Double Trouble Doubled
by RainbowGirlVals
Summary: Fred and his long time friend Trinity have been through everything together. In his last years, they explore the feelings never acknowledged and find love. Rated M for later chapters. My first story so sorry the summary sucks.
1. Prologue

Prologue

It was a warm midsummer's day and the sky was clear aside from a few passing clouds. The cool breeze rustled the leaves on the tree's and made the long blades of the lush, green grass sway. Nothing could be heard but the chirps of a few passing birds and the giggles of 4 children lounging on the top of a hill. They were laying on their backs in a circle, naming shapes from the clouds and devouring random candies pulled out of a purple drawstring bag that sat in the middle of the space between their heads. The only girl of the group reached above her head into the bag and pulled out a jelly bean that was pearly white.

"What do ya think it is?" she asked, holding it high into the air. The three boys looked at the candy and two of them smiled.

"Onion."

"Acid."

"Salt"

Their answers made her slightly wary as she dropped it into her mouth and chewed slowly. She prepared for the worst as chewed but smiled when she realized the taste was a sweet one. When she let out a giggle, the boys looked at her.

"What is it?" the young boy to her right asked. His complexion much like his white blonde hair matched hers ,though his hair was cropped short and she had grown hers out.

"Marshmallow." she answered happily.

"That's rubbish! How do you always get the good ones?" One of the ginger haired boys exclaimed, turning onto his stomach and looking at her.

"I don't know." she shrugged, not moving from the grass and enjoying the fell of the sun on her cheeks.

"It's 'cuz she's a girl George." said the other ginger haired boy who was laying to her left. The comment made her raise onto her elbows.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well you can't get the bad ones. Mother's put a spell on your hands that makes it impossible for you to get a bad one so your face doesn't stick when you get a nasty one." She looked at her hands and shook her head.

"You're just jealous Freddie 'cuz you always get vomit or toe nails…"

"Or compost…" George piped up making everyone but Fred chuckle. Fred turned red and crossed his arms over his chest. She giggled and poked him in the arm which ignited a slow smile on his face as well.

A rustle in the grass made the four sit up and they all looked at another red haired boy who was approaching them. He looked somewhat nervous as he approached them and the girl smiled at him.

"Hi Ron." He stopped dead in his tracks and swallowed.

"Hi Trini…"

"It's Trinity you doofus." George teased and Trinity reached across the circle and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Leave him alone."

"What's up?" Fred asked his younger brother.

"Mom wants you…and I think you're in trouble…" he murmured as angry yelling echoed to them from the giant Weasley house.

The twins turned slightly pale and exchanged glances before they rose to their feet. Trinity and her brother rose as well and glanced at the house. George quickly gave hugs to Trinity and her brother before setting off with Ron towards the house. Fred gave Donovan a hug before turning to Trinity.

"I think she's going to kill us." he whispered into her ear.

"I hope not. We have to go to school together, remember?" she replied pulling away. She held out her pinky to him and he raised an eyebrow at her but slowly linked his with hers.

"You have to promise me something."

"What?" he answered, eyeing his house as George entered.

"We will always be friends." he looked at her and saw she was serious. He smiled then.

"I promise we will always be friends no matter what."


	2. Chapter 1

September first. The day when procrastinating witches and wizards bustle around Diagon Alley for things they have forgotten for school before rushing to catch the train. And indeed, it had been chaos when she had tried to go to Fortescue's for some ice cream before heading to the train station. She had given up when an older woman carrying an owl in a cage had shoved against her and bounced the cage off the side of her head. She had walked back to the Leaky Cauldron with her hand over the growing bump, cursing under her breath.

But that had been this afternoon. She was on the train now, sitting by herself in the compartment she had gotten with her brother. He was off mingling with their classmates but she didn't mind the silence while it lasted. Her hair was it's natural white blonde and it was braided down her back with her long bangs parted to the side. She was already wearing her white button shirt and long black socks for school. She had her feet propped up on the seat across from her and her copy of The Monster Book of Monsters open on her legs. Every now and then it would make small noises but it grew silent again as she stroked the covers.

She glanced at the door as it rumbled from people running by down the hall. She wondered what the big commotion was until a second wave of people came running the opposite direction and partially stopped in front of her compartment.

"No really, I'd love to but I need to spend with my sister." Donovan said, sliding into the compartment through a space just big enough for his body. A girl that Trinity couldn't see had him by the front of the shirt and a few others were crooning over him.

"No I promise, I'll see you later. Really. Bye" He blew kisses and was released but he was pulling away with such force that he flew down into the seat across from her. Her closed the door with his foot and pushed his ear length white blonde hair off of his forehead. He looked at her and shook his head.

"Jeez."

"You know, you're going to break so many hearts when they find out you're gay." she said, shaking her head at him.

"Well it's not my fault I was born so gorgeous." he said giving her a corny smile and pretending to flip his hair all sexy like. She snorted and shook her head at him.

"Yes it's not because we were born metamorphagus and we can change our appearance however we like." she said changing her blues eyes through the rainbow before returning them back to blue.

"Nope, I'm naturally handsome." She threw her Monster book at him and giggled when it tried to attack him. When he threw it on the ground and attempted to stomp on it, she snatched it off the floor and held it to her chest.

"You poor baby! Are you okay? Did the mean closet man hurt you?" she crooned to the book. Her brother kicked her and she taunted him further. Tucking the book back into her trunk she smiled at her brother.

"So…got your eye on anybody I should know about?"

"Not on Fred-"

"What's not on me?" said the ginger haired Gryffindor. Donovan instantly grew quiet, his eyes wide while Trinity was trying to stop the blush on her face from turning her hair pink.

"Warts aren't on you." piped Donovan.

"Neither are smarts." said Trinity, staring at Fred who had taken a seat beside her. He frowned.

"Are ya still mad at me?" he chuckled, leaning against her. She pushed him back to his side of the seat and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked out the window away from him.

"You blew up my room!" she growled.

"It was an accident!" he yelled back. She refused to look at him and he looked at Donovan.

" I helped clean it up. Why am I still in trouble?" he asked Donovan.

"You damaged a LOT of her books…and you know how she is about her books…" Donovan muttered. Fred's mood sank slightly and he scooted closer to her. He leaned his chin on her shoulder.

"I'll replace them."

"That's not the point." she said. " I told you that we should do it in the field."

"I didn't know it was going to go off in your house."

"Yeah well, I spent all summer scrubbing slime and removing mud out of my parents house." she said pinching the bridge of her nose. Fred studied her and sighed.

"I sorry Trini…" he said in a high pitched, childish voice. She couldn't help but laugh and she pushed him back to his side.

"You're such a jerk sometimes you know that." she said. He shrugged.

"So…you were talking about me…"

"Nope." she smiled. When a dark figure appeared in the window, they all looked. In the distance they could see Hogsmeade, but something felt different.

"Oh looky there, I have to change which means you have to leave." she said, waiving them away. They tried to argue until she pulled out her wand. Then they were gone!

As she pulled on the rest of her uniform, she thought about the dark feeling that seemed to be hanging in the air. She used her wand to turn the window into a mirror so she could tie her blue and silver tie because she didn't use fake ties. She shook out her brain and looked at herself.

It was her final year at Hogwarts and she was going to make it mean something. She was already in cahoots with Fred and George on a product they were working on, and she was looking forward to helping the Care of Magical Creatures teacher before going off to become a caretaker of dangerous creatures. She also couldn't help but wonder how the loss of Cedric Diggory would affect school or who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher would be. She sighed and reverted the window back to it's original transparency. Hopefully the year would just go smoothly.


	3. Chapter 2

It was about a week into term and Trinity was sitting in the library with Hermione looking over potions books. It was mostly empty where they were sitting, so the girls had their heads together so they could whisper back and forth.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Trinity whispered. Her eyes kept darting to figures as they passed by the table. She was looking for one toad faced teacher in particular.

"Something that eases pain."

"We could be here all night if you're going to be that vague. Have you asked Snape?" Trinity asked. Unlike most, she was actually on somewhat good terms with the Potions professor. Hermione raised an eyebrow at her.

"After everything that has happened over the years did you really think I would ask him?"

"Well I need more to go on than just 'eases pain'." Trinity retorted and Hermione sighed. Hermione pushed her bushy hair behind her ear.

"Something that'll soothe pain and possibly heal." Trinity thought about it for a moment before her hand dove into her bag and pulled out her Monster Book of Monsters. She slid her finger down the spine and it flipped open to the exact page she actually needed.

"Here!" she said, pointing to a passage.

"Murtlap?" Hermione said, staring at the page and tilted her head, looking at Trinity. She nodded.

" Yeah it says here that if you pickle and strain the tentacles of a murtlap that the 'essence' of it is used to soothe pain and heal wounds…that's what you're looking for right?" Hermione nodded and started packing up her books.

"So where are we supposed to get some?" Hermione asked, giving Trinity a sarcastic look. Trinity smiled and placed her book back in her bag.

"I'll do what I do, you do what you do." Trinity said slyly and giggled. "No worries girly, I'll drop it off to you tonight. What do you need it for anyway?"

"Harry. He got detention with Umbridge and he came back with these weird cuts in the back of his hand."

"I see. Well I'll see you later with the stuff. Happy studying." Trinity said, squeezing Hermione's shoulder. She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed to the staircases. Before she knew it, she was on the ground floor and passing a group of Slytherins who included Malfoy and his girlfriend Pansy Parkinson. They made sneers and rude gestures towards her but she just rolled her eyes and cast expulso under her breath at Pansy's uniform. When it exploded, leaving her helplessly half naked as the material fell to the floor in bits, Trinity laughed out loud. They looked at her and she rushed down the stairs to the dungeons.

As she approached the classroom, she let down her hair which instantly grew to the middle of her back and styled itself perfectly. She knocked on the door and was given permission to enter. She stuck her head in and looked around. The teacher in question was at his desk looking at a pile of assignments and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hello professor, I was wondering if you could possibly help me out with something. I need some essence of murtlap and being the good student that I am, I would never sneak into your storage closet." she smiled. Snape raised an eyebrow at her and stood slowly from his desk.

"Is that a threat?" he asked and she shook her head vigorously.

"No sir. It was a joke from one of your favorite students." she said, half smiling.

"What makes you think that your one of my favorites?" he growled lowly. She shrugged and took a deep breath.

"I've only ever failed one potion while in your class all 7 years. I've never lipped off and I give Potter hell?" she asked unsure of his reaction. He smiled and grabbed a flask from the cabinet behind him and held it out to her. When she went to grab it, he pulled it back and leaned in.

"Twelve inches of parchment on Essence of Murtlap…"

"Okay?" she said slowly. He nodded and she took the flask from him. He waived her away and she walked to the door quietly, the energy she had when she arrived effectively gone. Before she left, she turned,

"Why do I feel like I'm in trouble?" she asked him. He shrugged and waived her away without another word. She left and closed the door quietly. 'That was strange', she thought as she walked back to the ground floor and started her ascent to the 7th floor. She giggled as she walked through the remains of Pansy's uniform and waived as she passed Angelina.

When she finally reached the 7th floor, she was interested to see that the Room of Requirement was in use and she could actually see the door. The fact that she could see it and it was cleverly disguised to not call attention to itself made her suspicious. Her fingers itched as she passed it but she refused and proceeded to the picture of the fat lady. She was about to ask for the password before she realized it was Trinity.

"You're not a Gryffindor." she remarked, turning up her nose.

"I need to see Hermione Granger." Trinity replied. "I know the password if it makes you feel better." The Fat Lady sneered at her and swung forward to let her in. Hermione smiled at her in the doorway.

"Did you get it?" Hermione asked anxiously. Trinity grinned and handed over the flask.

"I need this back when you're done because it's Snape's." she whispered. Hermione paled then shook her head.

"No problem, I'll have it back to you in no time." Hermione gave her a hug and disappeared back into the common room. Feeling accomplished, she turned back to investigate the cleverly disguised door.

At first she held her ear to it, but wasn't surprised to find she couldn't hear anything. She tried the knob and found it easily turned for her. She pulled out her wand as a precaution and opened the door slowly.

The Room of Requirement was darker than she had ever seen it. It was lit by flickering candle light that glanced off the shining walls. There were cushiony chairs all around and in the middle there was a cauldron set up over a fire. Open spell books littered the floors and she grew alert when she saw a wand laying on the ground unattended too. She shut the door and started around the room cautiously. She heard a groan and tried to keep her composure. The sight she experienced as she came around the chair at the back of the room made her drop her wand.

Slumped in the cushion chair barely conscious was Fred. A heavy sheen of sweat covered his body and there were boils covering all of his visible skin. His breathing was shaky and his eyes were rolling back into his head. For just a moment, his eyes seemed to focus on her. His lips started to bleed when he tried to smile at her. Her heart started racing and she dropped to her knees. She tried to dab the blood from his lips but he recoiled away from her in pain.

"Episkey." she whispered, waving her wand at him but nothing happened. He touched her cheek and his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his hand dropped onto the chair. As his breathing started to slow, she turned one wall of the room into a makeshift bathroom with a large tub. She filled it with ice before using her wand to lift Fred into the tub. "Accio Essence of Murtlap." she almost shrieked and poured it into a large bowl before starting to dab it onto Fred's skin. She felt tears well into the sides of her eyes but wiped them away angrily.

"Stupid boys…" she cried, placing the rag on his forehead, and sitting back. She covered her face with her hands and cried.


	4. Chapter 3

Authors Note: I'm sorry if this and the previous chapter seemed kind of slow or pointless. I'm experiencing a case of writer's block. I know some main events I want in the story but not how to build up to them. Bear with me J

"Louhi….Louhi…"

It had been over an hour since Fred's fever had finally broken but he was still laying in the tub full of melting ice. When he had started to cool down, Trinity had leaned against the wall and let her eyes fall closed and apparently fallen asleep. Someone was whispering to her now but they were whispering her nickname. Only a handful of people knew her nickname. Trinity rubbed her eyes and wearily looked around.

She was still in the Room of Requirement but it was dark because the candles had burned down. She lit her wand and used it to look around. Fred had rolled over onto his side so he was facing her but the water had soaked through his robes and now he was shivering horribly.

"Louhi…are ya there?" came the voice again. She looked around and rubbed her eyes again. It sounded like Donovan but there was no way he would know where she was. It was then she realized she was wearing a Hogwarts pen on her tie that she and her brother had enchanted so they could talk to each other. She touched the pen and yawned.

"Bialy?"

"Oh dear god Trinity, where are you?" her brother asked somewhat frantically.

"I'm in the Room of Requirement…with Fred…" she replied groggily. There was a pause.

" Oh?" he asked with an upward inflection. She rolled her eyes even though he couldn't see her.

"Not like that, ass. I found him stroking out with a severe fever."

"Why didn't you just take him to the hospital wing?"

"Because I think he caused it. I found some strange sweets that I've never seen before. I remember him saying something about sweets that make you sick…but yeah. I don't want him to get in trouble."

"Uh huh…" Donovan murmured. "Do you need help? Want me to get George?"

"Yeah…" she sighed.

"Alright. Be there in a sec." he said and the room went silent again. She pulled herself to her feet and went over to the tub. She disposed of the ice and used a spell to pull the water out of his clothes. She levitated him out of the tub and put him in the chair he was sitting in when she first found him. She pulled a chair up so she could dab more essence onto his boils.

Louhi. She had been given the nickname two years ago by her former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. He said it was the name for someone who could change shape and cast powerful spells. To avoid name calling and the wrath of Slytherins, she had only told a few people about her nickname: Donovan, Hermione, Fred, and George to name a few. She wasn't completely averted to the name, she just didn't want it to be the cause of her getting expelled.

"Trinity! Wait up!" called Fred. It had been three days since the episode in the Room and she was doing her best to ignore him. She continued to walk down the dungeons step towards the Potions class they shared that day. When he finally caught up to her, he grabbed her arm and spun her around.

"Blimey, didn't ya hear me?" he panted. George soon appeared at his side looking just as flushed and Trinity was surprised to see that he was covered in the same boils as Fred.

"I'm sorry. Did you say something?" she practically snarled and went to turn away from him. Fred held on tightly to her sleeve and pulled her back to face him.

"Let go of me." she hissed.

"No. Why are you mad at me? I've been trying to talk to you for three whole days and there's been no reply." he stared at her and she looked away. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Yet again you started testing something without letting me know. If I hadn't found you, you would have died Fred." she said staring at the floor. Slowly, she felt him let go of her sleeve.

"You found me?" he asked.

"Yes. You were sprawled out in an armchair with your eyes rolling into the back of your head because your body was practically cooking yourself. It's not surprising you don't remember. A fever that high can cause brain damage." she murmured. She swallowed to keep her voice from shaking, but she wasn't altogether sure why it was shaking in the first place. "We're supposed to be in this together boys. Right now, I may as well be a muggle to you." She turned away and preceded into the Potions classroom where she took a seat as far from the Gryffindor side as possible.

"They're called Skiving Snackboxes." Hermione said simply. "They're supposed to be sweets that cause ailments to get you out of class. Then when you are out of class you take the other half of the sweet and you go back to normal. It sounds like Fred was trying Fever Fudge."

Trinity shook her head and rolled her eyes. She and Hermione were walking the path that run past the lake that the Quidditch teams used to warm up. Trinity's hair was colored a vibrant red that matched her anger with their current topic of discussion and it flowed with the light breeze that accompanied them on their walk. Trinity tossed a stone absent mindedly in the air as they walked.

"I'm guessing you're still mad at them?" Hermione asked quietly, staring at the 7th year. Trinity launched the stone out into the water.

" We made a deal to do things together. This summer, they devised this device that would make a giant swamp appear when it was activated. I told them that we should test it in the meadow by our houses. No. It went off in my house and I spent my whole summer cleaning grime out of my parents house and replacing things that were ruined. My parents were so angry. If they had just listened to me, there wouldn't have been a problem. Then the other night…" her voice died away which made Hermione look at her. Her eyes turned pale blue for just a moment, then turned back to black.

"The other night?" Hermione prompted.

"I don't want to talk about it." Trinity said flatly.

"Well we don't know exactly what went on. He left shortly before you came by the common room perfectly fine. Then a few hours later, George comes in supporting Fred on his shoulders and Fred was covered in boils. I found out later through Ron that they had created a new a sweet for the snack boxes but from point A to point B in a mystery." Trinity shook her head and sighed.

"It was like a bad dream." she whispered and Hermione stared hard at his face.

"You grew up with the twins didn't you?" Hermione asked. Trinity nodded.

"Yeah. I know the whole Weasley family. Donovan and I live just on the other side of the hill where you took the portkey for the World Cup." she had a small smile on her lips as she said this. "Oh the trouble we used to get into."

"You like him." Hermione marveled at her. Trinity stopped in her tracks but she couldn't stop her cheeks from igniting. " That's why you're so mad at him and why whatever happened in the Room of Requirement shook you up."

Trinity was speechless. It was true. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but it was so true. They had grown up, caused mischief, and gotten punished together. Being sorted into different houses hadn't stopped from giving hell to the professors or partying harder than the Quidditch teams. They had sneaked to Hogsmeade and leaned to Apparate with each other. There had never been one without the other until this past summer. The whole family had disappeared without a word and she'd been left with Donovan for a summer of damage control. Trinity swallowed hard as she saw the twins headed over to the stadium with the rest of the Quidditch team for Keeper tryouts. Hermione followed her gaze.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I think he has a thing for Angelina. They went to the Yule Ball together after all." Trinity said, looking down when George met her eyes from across the field. It wasn't long 'til Fred was looking at them too.

"Yes but afterwards, he was with you, George, and Donovan in the Room of Requirement. Besides, he thought that prefect asked you." Hermione countered her. Trinity shrugged.

"He did and I only accepted because Fred had already asked Angelina."

"How is he supposed to know you like him if you don't say anything?" Hermione asked. Trinity was staring across at the Quidditch members and hopefuls as they disappeared into the stadium. Fred and George were the last to enter. They were talking amongst themselves and Harry but Fred kept throwing glances her way. With his hand at his side, he motioned his hand at her in a small waive that only she noticed. She let a small smile break her lips.

"I don't want to distract him from anything important…like Quidditch." Trinity murmured, jerking her chin towards the stadium. Hermione rolled her eyes as Trinity's pin started to talk.

"Louhi?" came Donovan's voice. She tapped it as Hermione's eyes grew slightly wide.

"Yes?"

"Umbridge is looking for you. She wants to see you in her office." Trinity's brow furrowed and shrugged to Hermione.

"Okay. I'll be there in a few." She tapped the pin again and let her hands fall to her sides. "I didn't do anything against the rules…" she murmured. Hermione looked suspicious as they headed back to the castle.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked but Trinity shook her head.

"No. I'll be fine. I've had 6 years of practice to counter anything she could throw at me. If I need any help, I'll send you a message." she said, throwing a small smile at the bewildered look on Hermione's face when she mentioned fighting a teacher. When Hermione realized what teacher they were in fact talking about, a small grin made her look sinister.


	5. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sorry to all the hardcore fans. My date for the Quidditch tryouts in the last chapter were incorrect. BUT, I now have a calendar of approximate dates for everything that happens in book 5.

"Can you believe the nerve of it!" Fred exclaimed. He was pacing back and forth in the Room of Requirement as George and Trinity watched. After Trinity had been called to the castle by Umbridge, she and the twins had made up and were back on good terms as long as they didn't keep anymore secrets from her. Fred was now fuming and kicking things over. George and Trinity kept looking at each worriedly. They hadn't seen Fred lose it in a while.

"She's screwing us all! We can't use our wands, can't practice our spells, can't defend ourselves." She could practically see the steam coming out of his ears.

"If it makes you so mad than do something about it…" she shrugged. She put up her hands in defense because he turned to glare at her.

"We're trying…" he said raking his fingers through his hair.

"What?"

"Nothing." he said turning back around to pace again. She looked at George but his brows here furrowed and staring at his brother. She suddenly felt out of the loop. She felt like a child who had walked in on a parent's conversation that was completely over her head. She looked from one twin to the other before swallowing.

"Well are we going to Hogsmeade together? I need to fill my stock of Honeydukes…" she smiled. Slowly the smile faded. The boys hadn't answered her and were still staring at each other intensely. She sighed and stood between them.

" Is there something going on that I need to know about?" They instantly snapped out of it.

"Why would you think that?" George asked.

"You're doing the weird twin bromance thing where you stare intensely at each other. I feel like I should leave so you guys can get to it…" she joked just to watch the both of them turn bright red. George lunged at her and she jumped back. The bad thing was, Fred was waiting for her and the only reason he missed her was because she pulled out her wand and he instinctively flinched. She ran out the door with the twins at her heels, running past students and teachers alike. When they passed McGonagall and Sinistra and interrupted their conversation, they ran faster for the fear that the head of the Gryffindor house would whip her wand out on them. It was when they had the misfortune of passing the pink toad that shit hit the fan.

Seeing the teenagers running through the hallway Umbridge, in an attempt to stop them, flicked her wand at them. Whatever spell she had attempted appeared to go horribly wrong because some unseen force caused Trinity to trip and land face first into the stone floor. George stopped in his tracks, glaring at Umbridge. Fred kneeled down to her side as Trinity lifted herself off the floor to reveal that her chin was split open and blood was running down her chin. She took the hand that Fred offered her and shakily got to her feet, grabbing her wand which had rolled out of her robes mid-fall. She turned to face the High Inquisitor who instantly raised her wand higher when she saw that Trinity had her wand out.

"Motherfucker…" Trinity murmured, touching her chin again gingerly.

"Excuse me?" Umbridge gasped. She seemed taken aback.

"You split my goddamn chin open." she growled. She went to replace her wand in her robes when suddenly, she saw black cords flying at her and the boys. On instinct, she defended herself with the 'Diffindo' charm which cut the black cords. They fell to the ground limply. She could feel the twins surprise and anger rising to the sides of her.

"Did you just use magic against a teacher?" Umbridge said in a low menacing voice, brow furrowing.

"No, I was defending myself." Trinity replied matter-of-factly. Umbridge started walking towards her, wand raised at the student. Trinity took a more defensive stance as she got closer, feeling a heaviness start to close in on her. As Umbridge flicked her wand, the spell seemed to glance off her and Trinity watched as it hit a nearby wall. Umbridge continued to attempt to bewitch Trinity as she walked forward but the spells just glanced off, hitting objects and thankfully no students.

"Stop using magic!" Umbridge shrieked, a few feet from her. Trinity just looked at the boys. George shrugged at her but Fred's eyes were locked on the High Inquisitor.

"I'm not." she confessed and put her wand away trying to prove it. Still the Professor came towards her in a rage.

"Liar!" she exclaimed. As Umbridge stood before her, Trinity taller than she, she raised her wand at the student again.

"Umbridge!" yelled McGonagall. The four turned to the Transfiguration teacher and Trinity was never so thankful to see her.

"I know you're not standing here using magic against a student when you help Filch to enforce the rule of no magic casting between classes or in hallways. That would be setting a bad example as High Inquisitor." McGonagall smiled as she looked at the twins. Umbridge's eyes bulged out of her head and a vein in her forehead twitched slightly. She lowered her wand and composed herself.

"Of course not. I was simply correcting these students from running through the halls when they shouldn't be." Trinity snorted and gingerly held her hand under her chin so she wouldn't bleed on her tie or shirt. Umbridge's eyes snapped back to the girl.

"Ms. Bastille. I will see you tomorrow after classes for detention."

"WHAT!" she exclaimed, causing blood to streak across the floor when her hands fell to her side in disbelief.

"What for?" George asked.

"Hush Mr. Weasley, unless you'd like to join her." both twins went to speak up but Trinity help up her left hand.

"On what grounds?" McGonagall asked for their sake.

" Profanity directed at a teacher. Magic use in the hall. Disobedience." Trinity rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

"TRINITY!" Fred and George said in shock and grabbed her arms to try and reason with her.

"No it's fine. I'll do your detention. How long?" she said, glaring at the pink toad.

"That will be determined later." Umbridge said and moved on down the hallway. Students had stopped to stare and whisper at a safe distance but they quickly dispersed when they saw Umbridge coming. Trinity dabbed at the blood on her chin and cursed quietly to herself when she saw a ruby droplet on her blue and silver tie.

"You should go to the Hospital Wing, my dear." McGonagall said.

"No need." Fred said. He removed his wand from his robes and met Trinity's eyes as he pointed it at her chin. He seemed to ask if she trusted him as he murmured the healing spell.

"Episkey." Her chin caught on fire before chilling again. She touched it gingerly and smiled. She lifted her tie looking hopefully and Fred chuckled. But, it was George who stepped forward and lifted the stain from her tie. She sighed and hugged them both at the same time.

"I would run along now dears before she returns." McGonagall smiled and walked back to where Sinistra was waiving students on their way.

"Well I guess I have to go finish my work since I now have detention tomorrow." she shrugged. She hugged George and mussed his hair. When she hugged Fred, he lingered. She smiled into his shoulder.

"I'm fine," she murmured to him. "Don't worry."

"You better be." he replied with a hidden happy tone to his voice. He released her and smiled which she returned, before turning and heading to Ravenclaw tower. She cringed as she thought of the word load that lay ahead of her to make sure she didn't fall behind.

When she was out of sight, the twins turned to go meet up with some of their guinea pigs for the skiving snack boxes. As they walked, George took a sidelong glance at his brother.

"That was sneaky."

"What?" Fred asked innocently, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Protecting her with the Impervius Charm. Though I will admit, it was entertaining to watch Umbridge freak out." George chuckled. Fred shrugged.

"She's like our sister. It would be like leaving Ginny in harms way while standing right there. Couldn't just leave her all helpless like on display." he said. George rolled his eyes and nudged his brother with his shoulder.

"Sure mate, though it's kind of creepy comparing a girl ya got a thing for with our sister." This left Fred speechless which caused George to errupt in a fit of giggles as they came to a group of first years. Hermione had been threatening them so they had gotten creative. Still, as they entered the empty classroom, Fred couldn't help but dwell on what George had said.

Author's Note 2: Sorry about the hiatus! My work schedule really picked up with Christmas so I've been pretty drained. Promise to try and keep up more with posting. Reviews appreciated. Lots of love- Rainbow Girl


	6. Chapter 5

Trinity sat on the edge of the tub in the prefect bathroom on the fifth floor. She had had to bribe the Head Girl of Ravenclaw, who was a friend of hers, to give her the password by promising her some of the sweets she and the twins were working on once they were perfected. The marble underneath her was chilly and only caused her to grow impatient for the tub to fill with hot water. Her tap of choice was dispensing blue water, aquamarine bubble bath, and a light scent of lavender. She had concocted it to be nothing but relaxing, which was exactly what she needed. As she kicked her toes back and forth through the water, she couldn't help but glance down at her arms. So many detention episodes with Umbridge had caused a real number on her limbs and she was hoping the water would speed up the healing process. Having finally filled the tub she turned the faucet off and allowed herself to be completely submerged.

The water burned at first but she soon grew accustomed to it. She surfaced and slicked her white hair back, wiping her eyes, and inhaling the steam. She slid into body length groove that was carved into the side of the tub and let her body settle into position. She grabbed a few towels and put them behind her head to act as a pillow while she relaxed. The temperature of the water was causing her arms to burn and a small headache to form in her temple. It made her think about her mother who would dote over her when she was in pain. Trinity wished her mother was there at that moment to help her. The thought of the look her mothers face at the moment made a smile pull at the corner of her lips. Her family could be so hilarious sometimes.

Her parents had attended Hogwarts in the late sixties a year before Lupin, James, and Sirius and they had been proud Gryffindors. They had started dating in their fifth year at school and had grown incredibly close when Miriam, Trinity's mother, had found out that her father had been killed by one of Voldemort's followers in the last few months of their sixth year. The Christmas after their graduation from Hogwarts Ethan, her father, had proposed. At first Trinity's grandmother had been against the idea, thinking that his proposal was only in response to Voldemort's growing power. It took seeing her daughter in a wedding dress to change her mind and give Miriam and Ethan her blessing to get married. In March of '77, Ethan and Miriam were wed with Molly Weasley as the maid of honor and Remus Lupin as the best man. Ethan's parents bought them the then single story house located down the road from the Weasley's house as a wedding present. Seven months later, they were forced to add a second story to the house when they found out that Miriam was pregnant with the twins.

Molly was more than happy to help Miriam get accustomed to being a mom, already having 5 children of her own, and having recently had twins a few months before Miriam. While Arthur and Ethan were working at the Ministry, Miriam and Molly were at each others homes juggling the kids and working to keep both homes clean. Both families gladly welcomed Ronald and Ginny but no one was prepared for the loss of Lily and James Potter two months after Ginny was born. When the news came, both women couldn't help but hold their husbands tight. It could have been any of them because they were all actively involved in fighting the Dark Lord's power. The loss of Sirius Black to Azkaban the next day only added insult to injury and caused Lupin to stay on their couch for a good week. After that, things for the Weasley's and Bastille's seemed to look up for a while…all things considered of course.

Two years later, in '83 when the twins were five, the Bastille family experienced a major tragedy. While pursuing a group of Death Eaters who were smuggling dark artifacts, Ethan was hit by a powerful Cruciatus curse. When they were finished torturing him, the Death Eaters cast the Obliviate Charm on him in an attempt to erase their faces from his memory. Fortunately he was able to identify them to his fellow Aurors and they were identified and punished accordingly but Ethan suffered a worse fate than writhing on the floor in pain. The memory charm had caused him to forget nearly everything, including magic. The only things he seemed to remember were the wizards he was close to in his line of work, a handful of friends, and his family. He couldn't remember anything about magic, potions, or how to use a wand. In the beginning, after he had been released from St. Mungo's, he had tried to take back his wand and regain his magical ability but to no avail. With nothing but failure as his outcome, he packed away his wand and sought out the muggle job of being an automobile mechanic. He had an uncle who had taught him how to fix cars while he was free in the summer. Miriam on the other hand could no longer afford to be a stay at home mother. She took up a job offer at St. Mungo's hospital being that she had excelled in all the skills needed to be a healer. Molly become Trinity and Donovan's caretaker while neither parents were home. Growing up with the Weasley boys all around them, it wasn't hard to understand the sibling bond that formed between all of them.

Growing up for Trinity and Donovan was happy. Surrounded by friends and family, they learned about magical things very fast. When young, they would imitate spells that their mothers would use to clean house and fold laundry. They'd race with the older boys on toy broomsticks and help tend the Weasley's garden. Trinity and Donovan would dominate at hide and seek, being that they got Metamorphagi powers from a relative on Miriam's side of the family. The twins always got them back by playing practical jokes on them, like giving Trinity a bag of Bertie Bots that only had the nasty flavors in it or charming Donovan's chocolate frogs to attack him whenever he opened the package. They all couldn't wait to get their letters for Hogwarts but this hope was only based on the wild stories that Bill, Charlie, and eventually Percy brought home to tell them.

Trinity chuckled to herself and rubbed her temple. Long ago, both she and her twin had dreamed of making Prefect or becoming Head Boy or Girl but that had become a fantasy. Trinity quickly fell into trouble-making with Fred and George while Donovan strived to conceal the fact that he was gay, which he had finally acknowledged in his fourth year. Only a handful of people knew and Donovan wasn't yet ready to tell the world no matter how much Trinity coaxed. She assured him the only problems he would receive would be most likely from Slytherins, but it was still too sensitive a subject.

She had never questioned her sexuality but the thing that tormented her were the undeniable feelings she had for Fred. For years she had flirted with the idea in her mind but thought that there was no way that her "brother" could possibly like her back. But lately he had been, what was the word for it? Affectionate? She shook her head and couldn't help but pinch the bridge of her nose. Or maybe she was over thinking things like always. Maybe she was just projecting her feelings onto Fred and he wasn't acting any different than he always did. But she couldn't make an accurate assumption about that. Since she had started detention with Umbridge, contact with any of the Weasley's had been scarce. She longed to hangout with anyone but she had been on a strict routine to make sure she kept up with her studies. If she was going to get a job that she really wanted, she needed to make sure she sustained the highest marks.

She missed the red hair of her "family" and the white blonde hair of her own twin brother. '_I should go pull him from his bed when I get back to the common room.' _she thought and giggled to herself. She stretched and began to wring out the towels that were formerly her pillows. She threw them in a laundry basket and grabbed a clean towel for herself. She patted dry and threw on the clean pair of black pajamas that she had brought with her. She stuffed her uniform in her messenger bag and cast a concealing spell on herself. Just to be safe, she also took a secret passage that she knew about to the picture that concealed her common room. She looked around cautiously as she stepped inside and relaxed when she was sure the common room was empty.

She headed up to her room and dropped her messenger bag on top of her trunk. She quickly ran a brush through her hair and looked around at her bunk mates. They were all sound asleep, dreaming of better places and better times. As she went to climb into bed, something caught her eye. On her bedside table there was a small white box with a silver ribbon tied around it. She pulled the blankets up to her waist and lifted the top off the box. Inside, there was a large opalescent scale that was attached to a long piece of leather. She lifted the necklace out of it's tiny container and found a piece of parchment rolled in the bottom. She rubbed her thumb against the dragon scale as she read the note,

"_Fortune and Love favor the Brave."_

A smile escaped to her lips as she recognized the handwriting. She knew how she felt about him and after not seeing him for what felt like forever, the gift made her wonder if maybe he felt the same about her.

Author's Note: Done because I was told that I hadn't given enough of a back story on Trinity yet. For all of those who would like to know where I get my information, I use: …Sorry for the long absence too…


	7. Chapter 6

October seventh rolled around in no time and Trinity found herself with a normal Monday for the first time in three weeks. She dressed in her robes and joined Donovan in the Great Hall for a rather cheerful breakfast. Fingering the white dragon scale as she listened to her brother recant a story from his latest dream, she couldn't help but steal a glance at the Gryffindor table. The twins were sitting closely with their younger siblings, Hermione, Harry, and a few others. Trinity smiled as Fred's eyes met hers. She had missed his company greatly and couldn't wait to exploit her regained freedom.

As students filed out of the Great Hall to their first classes, Trinity was saddened to see that the twins had disappeared. She really wanted to talk to them and see how they first Hogsmeade weekend had gone. She also wanted the goodie bag from Honeydukes they had promised to grab her since she had still been drowning in homework. As she headed to her first class of the day she saw the twins a little ahead of her talking. She quickened her pace to catch up to them but discovered too late that their discussion was extremely heated.

"It's the terrible two!" she smiled brightly as George turned on her, his cheeks red and the veins in his forehead popping out.

"Buzz off!" he growled and turned back around.

"Whoa, it was just a joke!" Trinity replied, not losing any speed.

"Not exactly in a joking mood." George growled again. Trinity looked between the brothers and dropped her voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you see the new Educational Decree?" again it was George who spoke.

"No…." she drew out her answer, a sign that she truly had no idea. George rolled his eyes at her and tightened his grip on his book bag. She turned his gaze to Fred who seemed to be averting her gaze at all costs. Sighing and attempting to change the subject, she put on another smile.

"How was Hogsmeade? Did you go to Honeydukes?"

"Same thing, different year." George almost growled. "And no, we did not go to Honeydukes."

Fed up with his attitude, Trinity stopped and grabbed Fred's sleeve. He stopped with and waived his brother to proceed on without him. She turned him to look at her and the suppressed anger on his face was evident.

"Fred." He looked at her momentarily and glanced away again. She placed a hand on his cheek to make him look at her.

"What did the decree say?"

"That ugly pink toad has disbanded all student organizations including Quidditch teams." The impact of his statement hit her almost instantly.

"But don't you have a game this weekend?"

"Not unless we can convince her to reinstate the Gryffindor team…"he looked away and she sighed. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry about George." he whispered.

"Not your fault." she replied.

"Sorry about your gift bag too."

"I'll live." she smiled as she pulled away and looked at him. He weakly smiled back and touched the scale hanging around her neck.

"I love it." This made him smile bigger.

"You better go. Wouldn't want you missing class." Trinity said, grabbing the strap of her bag. He nodded.

"Yeah…" he turned to go but turned back. "I'll see you later right?"

Trinity shrugged as she turned down the hall for her class.

"We'll see…if anything we'll meet up Wednesday for joke stuff."

"Oh…Wednesday I can't. I gotta thing…"

"What thing?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Just a thing. But I WILL catch you later." he winked and they parted ways.


	8. Chapter 7

Trinity flew blissfully under Umbridge's radar for the remainder of October. Life was good in fact…for the most part. She was excelling in her studies and her extra activities with Hagrid. She was well on her way to a future career with magical creatures. Her social life on the other hand, seemed to be declining.

Donovan was busy getting to know a Slytherin boy whom he had recently discovered was also gay. Hermione and her motley crew always seemed to be busy or preoccupied when she did get time away with them. Then there were the twins. The only people she thought would never blow her off were now making excuses when she wanted to hangout and sneaking off when they made plans. The loneliness was starting to cause a cloud to hangover her head as she roamed the school, looking for something to do to fill her empty time.

She was sitting under a tree out by the lake humming the tune of her favorite song when she saw a group approaching her. She glanced down at her copy of the Monster Book of Monsters trying to appear busy until she realized who it was. At the head of the group was a tall Gryffindor girl named Raquelle with auburn hair and hazel eyes followed by a Slytherin girl, named Sahara, who was slightly shorter than her with olive skin and a black pixie cut. Bringing up the rear were two Hufflepuff girls: Merril had green eyes, freckles, and an orange angle cut while Claire had wheat colored waves and violet eyes. They sat down in a circle with Trinity and Raquelle leaned against Trinity's shoulder. Trinity wasn't sure how they had managed to form a friendship with everyone being in a different house but they all somehow meshed together. They were always there for her no matter what's going on in school or their individual lives.

"What's the matter Trini?" Raquelle asked tugging on a locke of Trinity's pale blonde hair that was almost gray.

"Trouble in red head paradise?" Merril giggled, twisting a locke of her own red hair around her finger. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"I don't even know if their hair is still red." The other girls eyes grew wide as they exchanged looks. They knew how wrapped up in Fred, Trinity was and to hear her say that was shocking.

"He been blowing you off?" Sahara asked, mock pushing up her sleeve. Trinity shrugged.

" I try and spend time with them and they are always busy. They are always 'studying' or working on homework or some other stupid excuse. Come on now, you guys know those two. They don't study, EVER!" she said, her voice growing heated and slightly louder. Claire grabbed one of her hands and started to massage her palm in a soothing way. Trinity shook her head and let out an exasperated chuckle.

"Are you going to go to the Quidditch match tomorrow?" Sahara asked, and they all glanced in the direction of the Quidditch arena. The next day it would be all dressed up in scarlet, gold, green, and silver. The stands would be full of jeering students waiting for some kind of carnage to break out in the air above them. Trinity usually went to not only support her Gryffindor friends, but she got to practice her healing magic. Sitting in the grass then, she felt so unsure of herself and her feelings.

Of course at that moment the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out of the castle and down towards the arena. Trinity averted her eyes and stroked the fur coat of her book affectionately. While she didn't look the other girls did, with the exception of Claire who was still massaging the stress knots out of her hand.

"What?" Trinity asked quietly, as the other girls finally looked away.

"That's interesting…" Sahara said.

"If I didn't know you guys better, I would've thought he was a stalker." Raquelle said shaking her head.

"I have never seen anyone go that long without blinking." Merril said in disbelief which made all of them laugh. Claire placed her hand on top of Trinity's and smiled at her. It was a knowing smile that traveled all the way to her eyes.

"He misses you, lady. Don't you doubt that." Claire spoke in a voice as soft as the color of her hair.

"So you don't think he's hiding something?" Trinity asked, looking more for reassurance than the truth. Claire shook her head.

"No. He's doing something, but it doesn't mean it's a bad thing. He could be trying to shield you from whatever it is to protect you. Have faith."

"And that's why it's helpful to hangout with a Divination major." Sahara chimed in as the comic relief. Everyone giggled and Claire released Trinity's hand. It instantly grabbed for the scale under her shirt and began to fidget with it.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"…Guess I have to go. I have to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Trinity said quietly, glancing at the stadium.

"We'll all go together!" Raquelle practically squealed, throwing her arms up in the air triumphantly.

"But until then, come on! Let's go do something fun!" Raquelle was instantly on her feet and pulling everyone to theirs. She put her arms around them and they set off back to the castle without another look off into the distance.

A.N.~ This chapter is more fluff than anything because if I had combined it with the next chapter like I originally planned, this chapter would have been HUGE!


	9. Chapter 8

Trinity paced anxiously on the Quidditch field wand at the ready in her right hand, a Beater's bat on her belt. She was working as a field medic and had already helped the first casualty of the match which had been Montague, the Slytherin Captain. After healing him from a Bludger to the head, and casting George a warning look, she was trying to stay on her toes for anything serious. Mostly she was trying to ignore the chorus' of "Weasley is Our King" coming from the emerald side of the stands. She knew that Ron wasn't a remarkable Keeper is any sense of the word but she thought the song was a low blow. She continued her rounds only having to help Angelina with a Bludger wound. She felt pretty useless because not long after, she spotted Harry close his hand around the snitch. She cheered until she spotted Crabbe swing his bat and aim a Bludger at Harry. She instantly signaled Hooch over to quickly update her on the situation before everything was announced. Having complete faith in Madam Hooch's ability, Trinity walked towards the youngest Weasley who was walking solo to the changing rooms rather meekly.

"Hey little brother, why so down?" she said catching up to Ron and cocking her head to the side a little. He didn't look at her, just kept his head down, dragging his broom behind him. She threw an arm around him and stopped him. She smiled as she raised his chin up to look at her. He pulled away from her but it didn't break her disposition.

"Keep your head up. You won didn't you?" she said trying to make some of her happiness rub off on him.

"I couldn't save a single goal!"

"It takes practice little brother. You can't expect to be the best in a single day. Besides, I know that those snakes booked the field for practice so you guys barely got any time at all." Ron nodded slightly.

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I am-"

"IMPEDIMENTA!" The screamed jinx caused them the whirl around. Trinity's eyes instantly found the problem. Fred who was being held back by all three Gryffindor Chasers was trying to join George and Harry who had been jinxed back away from Malfoy who was laying bloody on the ground. Trinity growled to herself and pushed Ron towards the changing rooms. When he fought her she gave him a look.

"Let me find out what happened and I'll get back to you…GO!" she bellowed and took off for the huddle. On her way there, she fired a silencing charm at Crabbe who was cackling in glee at the trouble he had caused. Harry and George were on their way up to the castle by the time she arrived and the girls were trying to pull Fred after them. She tried to stop them but they pulled him along as Madam Hooch called her over to tend to the worst of Malfoy's injuries. She threw her hands up in defeat and glared down at the Slytherin. He tried to talk to her but she glared at him and streaked away from him as soon as she was done and he was transported to the Hospital Wing. Trinity attempted to ask Madam Hooch what had happened but she had headed towards the castle to retrieve the snitch from Harry.

"What the hell happened here?" she spoke out loud to herself as the students began to file out of the stands. She was glad to catch up with Donovan on his way to the castle after she had replaced her belt in the Ravenclaw changing room.

"DON!" she yelled, and jogged to link arms with him. Donovan threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her away down an empty-ish corridor.

"What the hell happened out there?" she demanded instantly.

"Not completely sure. From what I saw, Malfoy started talking trash to Harry and the next thing I know Harry and George are punching Malfoy to bits. Hooch broke it up of course."

"Of course. Where did they go?" Trinity asked, wiping her forehead with a handkerchief.

"Most likely to McGonagell's office…but I did see Umbridge head to the castle shortly after the rest of them did so I'm sure she put her two cents in."

"Oh lord…that can't be good…" Trinity said, a sudden onset of fear filling her stomach. It was so intense it made her nauseous and she wrapped an arm around her midsection and Donovan helped to brace her.

"I'm sure they are fine Trin, don't panic."

"I can't help it. I went to cheer up Ron. If I hadn't, I could have been there. I could have stopped them."

" Not necessarily, besides we don't even know what Malfoy said. It could have been really bad." Donovan said, helping her to sit on one of the benches in the hall.

"Knowing that conniving little weasel it was downright foul." she growled, raking her fingers through her hair. Donovan could see her anxiety level rising to a level where she would normally get sick so he grabbed her hand.

"Come on, let's go to the common room. I'll get you a cool rag for your forehead and you can put your feet up and while you are relaxing, I'll go find out what happened." he said pulling her to her feet.

"No I can't. You know I won't be able to relax until I know everything is okay." Donovan just rolled his eyes and carted her off to the common room against her will.

It was well after curfew and almost all of the torches were burned out leaving the castle dark but Trinity was skillfully walking the halls, her destination the Room of Requirement. She had let her twin talk her into resting through lunch but had managed to convince him to let her go to dinner in the Great Hall. To her dismay though, she hadn't spotted either of the red headed twins at dinner to ask them what had happened. She had heard plenty of rumors on her way to dinner to leave her shaking for the truth. There was no way any of the far fetched things she had heard could be true. But, if the rumor about Umbridge appearing were true, she was worried what she would find in the Room of Requirement. She raced as quickly and as quietly as she could meanwhile trying to dodge any ghosts and any teachers who were doing their nightly rounds. She wished at that moment that she had the twins map on her but they had given it to Harry two years ago since they had it memorized. She couldn't help her stomach from rising into her throat as she saw that the Room of Requirement was in use. She was thankful in that she could see it. It meant that Fred was there.

She quietly turned the knob to the door and poked her head inside. The room was full of the same cushioned chairs as the night she had caught them testing Fever Fudge without a "sober" person to help cope with side effects. There were candles on the walls in sconces all lit but it wasn't exactly great lighting. She took a few steps and saw a snoring George passed out across three cushions. She stooped down to get a better look just to find him completely disheveled. His wand had fallen to the group beside him along with his school robes. He was missing his shirt which was nowhere visible and he was missing a shoe. She felt his forehead to make sure it wasn't another science experiment gone wrong and was comforted that only his cheeks were warm.

"Thank goodness…" she breathed. A noise behind her caused her to whirl around, wand raised. A woozy looking Fred stood a few feet behind her braced against a wall, a caramel colored bottle in his hand.

"There you are!" he laughed loudly, stumbling towards her.

"What took you so long?" He was obviously completely unaware that George was out cold as he leaned a lot of his weight on Trinity. Instantly her nose wrinkled at the smell of fire whiskey on his breath.

"Are you drunk?" she asked pulling the bottle from his hand and smelling the contents. He attempted to take the bottle back from her but she easily kept it out of his drunken reach.

"No, no….okay maybe a little…" he hiccupped, a drunken smile plastered on his face. She lightly pushed him back into a chair as she tried to compose herself. This was a first. They had all drank a little before in the room but it was always after their N.E.W.T.'s in celebration of the end of the year. To see him now, barely coherent was different.

"Why are you in here getting drunk?" she asked, waiving her wand at empty bottles strewn across the floor and making them disappear.

"Let's talk about something else….Let's talk about you!" Fred said shaking his head. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"Me, huh? What on earth could you want to know about me that you don't already know?" she said sarcastically. He paused and looked down at his shirt and for a moment she was sure that he was going to pass out but his head snapped up abruptly.

"Why haven't I seen you around lately?" Trinity's anger flared slightly.

"Why have you been ditching me?" Fred raised an eyebrow.

"We haven't been ditching you."

"You haven't been able to hangout at all since I finished detention. I try to make plans and you say you have to study but I know you Fred Weasley. You NEVER study for anything except for maybe your disapparition test which I helped you with! So what's so important? Or am I just not cool enough to hangout with the likes of you anymore?" Fred looked completely and utterly dumbfounded which was impressive considering how wasted he was. She walked past him to clear away more bottles but he grabbed her robes and pulled her down onto his lap. She instantly blushed and tried to get away from the smell of his breath.

"Nothings more important than you, love." he murmured, his bloodshot eyes studying her. She rolled her own eyes and pushed his hands away.

"Whatever, you are obviously too sloshed to understand what I'm saying." she rose but he pulled her back down.

" No I understand perfectly. I've been treating you like a right foul git and I'm sorry. So much has happened lately that I didn't realize I was putting you in the back seat while trying to juggle my life. I forgot that the best juggler who could help me was you…" he said, placing his hands on her cheeks.

"It has always been you Trin. You've been like my other twin…the smarter one of course. The logical one…though I've never felt like this about George."

"Thank god." Trinity giggled, making them both laugh to break the tension.

"You make the sun shine a little brighter, you make the rain stop and the clouds go away-"

"That is so cliché! Besides, we like the rain- bigger puddles" she said and Fred shook his head blinking hard. He touched the dragon scale that was hanging around her neck and played with it for a few seconds before meeting her eyes again.

"You're not listening Trinity. I love-" Trinity covered his lips with her hands as a smile graced her lips. There was an unspoken acknowledgement between them as she removed her hands.

"What happened today at the Quidditch match?" she asked softly. His eyes grew dark.

"Malfoy was calling mum and dad names and talking about the unwritten lyrics for that stupid song they were singing. Then he started in about Harry's parents…"

"And?"

"Harry and George starting wailing on him. Next thing I knew, George and Harry were in the common room fuming…and then…" Fred's face started to grow hot with anger. She raised his chin to look at her.

"And then?"

"She banned all of us from Quidditch…forever…" Trinity dropped his chin and blinked speechless. She understood the alcohol then. It would have been like taking the twins or care of magical creatures from her.

"How can she do that?" Trinity demanded, bolting upright.

"Magical Decree number something or the other."

"That's not fair!"

"No shit. She took our brooms and everything. What are we supposed to do?"

"Fight back!" her volume had raised a few octaves to where it sounded like she was yelling. He flinched away from her in his inebriated state and she sunk into a cushion beside him.

"I'm sorry…I wish I had been there. I could have stopped them…"

"Don't blame yourself. It's Malfoy's fault. He played dirty and knows what hits home for us. It most likely would have happened whether you were there or not. You were doing the right thing by trying to cheer up Ron."

"He told you?" she asked a little bewildered.

"Yeah. It kind of worked. He was beating himself up as much as usual." Trinity nodded and sighed. Fred reached over and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. She practically drowned in the smell of his breath and he rested his head on hers.

"All that matters is you're here now. That in itself proves how much you care about us…about me."

"If you ever doubted that, I will hurt you…" she murmured, trying not to taste the booze when she inhaled.

" You don't know what it means to me, standing by all this time. I don't know what I would have done in your position." Trinity thought for a moment.

"Spy on me?"

"No I wouldn't."

"Liar."

"Maybe just a little." Trinity smiled and she felt Fred smile too.

"Only because I'm crazy about you."

"You really gotta stop letting that fire whiskey do the talking for you. You sound all crazy right now, trying to tell me you like me…"

"It's not crazy….it's….true…" Fred whispered, his breathing growing heavy as he fell asleep against her. In her mind, she shook her head. She hadn't expected to find out that he felt the same for her as she did about him. She felt somewhat hurt that it took alcohol to give him the strength to do it while another part of her feared it was only the alcohol that made him feel that way. What were they going to do without Quidditch? It was a major part of their life besides practical jokes.

As Trinity untangled herself from the red headed twin she couldn't help but shake her head. Umbridge had no idea the chaos that was about to ensue because of her.


	10. Chapter 9

"No way! Are you kidding me? Are you going to tell him!" Donovan exclaimed after Trinity finished recanting what had happened the night before to him. They had taken their lunch and their Charms work out to their favorite tree by the Great Lake to work on before class the next day. Trinity was twisting a dark blonde lock around her finger as she studied her brother. He was taking the news slightly better than she expected.

"I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out if it was the alcohol talking."

"And if it wasn't? If those are his real feelings for you?" Donovan prodded. Trinity blushed and shrugged her shoulders while casting her eyes away from him. Donovan shook his head and clapped his hands together happily.

"I can see the wedding now! What will the colors be?"

"Don…" Trinity glared at him.

"Lilies or roses?"

"Hey?"

" Can I be the Maid of Honor!"

"BIALY!" she yelled at him, finally getting his attention.

"WHAT!"

"Would you stop with all the nonsense? There isn't going to be a wedding."

"You don't know that." Donovan said, making a sly look at her which only made her blush darker and shake her head.

"Well there isn't going to be one any time soon." she taunted back and looked down at her Charms book. Donovan quickly grabbed the book from her and held it out of her reach.

"You have to tell him, sis. He deserves to know what he said last night and you deserve to know the truth. Don't you want the truth?"

"Of course I want the truth. It would be awesome to know that everything he said last night wasn't a very poor attempt at getting into my pants. It would be great to know that the one person I really feel anything towards, feels the same about me."

"Well you might just get your chance…" Donovan said, looking towards the castle.

"What?" she said confused then followed his gaze. Fred and George were walking towards them at a quickened pace from the castle. 'Oh great', Trinity thought. She looked up at them both when they finally reached their tree. Trinity looked up at the twins, shielding her eyes from the sun being reflected at them from some of the castle windows.

"Hey guys. What ya doin'?" Donovan smiled coyly as George plopped down next to him on the ground.

"I was actually wondering if we could talk?" Fred said looking at Trinity. She swallowed as George suddenly acted interested in Donovan's copy of the Charms book.

"Alone."

"Sure…" Trinity said, standing slowly.

"Charms. What a fascinating subject!" George said loudly and Trintiy cursed him inside her head.

They walked along the path that wound it's way around the Great Lake and into the Forbidden Forest. A cool breeze wafted it's way across the water and blew through their hair, Trinity walking a little behind Fred. He finally stopped and turned to face her when he was sure they were far enough away from their brothers that he didn't have to worry about being overheard. He shoved his hands in his pockets and studied the crunching, brown grass under his feet. He cleared his throat and attempted to say something but gave up when words escaped him.

"Fred, are you okay?" Trinity asked, squinting against the sun. He shrugged.

"I'm sorry about last night."

"Sorry about?" Trinity prompted.

" What I may have done…or said. I was so drunk last night…" he said scratching his head. Trinity felt a pang in her chest.

"So you didn't mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"Anything you said last night…about having feeling for me?" Trinity controlled her breathing to make sure there were no water works.

"NO! No, that's not what I meant….I mean…." Fred growled at himself and scratched his head with both hands in exasperation.

"I meant I am sorry for anything I may have said last night that offended you or hurt you. I can only remember bits and pieces of last night but most of it is still a blur." he chuckled and Trinity nodded silently. Seeing the hurt clearly in her face, he leaned down to meet her eyes.

"Hey…" his voice was as soft as warm butter. Her eyes were drawn to him no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

"I meant what I said about you. Every word of it." Her vision instantly snapped to his face and he smiled in triumph. He took both of her hands in his and rubbed his thumbs against the back of her palms.

"I love you. I love the ever changing color of your hair, the look you make when George or I make an inappropriate joke, and how cute you get when you're frustrated. I love how you play medic during Quidditch matches and try to get us to play fair. I love how you are responsible, and smart, and how you never hesitate if my family needs something. I love everything about you." His eyes shown almost golden in the afternoon sunlight and the cool late autumn air added a redness to his cheeks.

"So it wasn't the alcohol talking?" she piped up and Fred laughed.

"No Trini."

"Promise?" He nodded.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Well why didn't you tell me? Assuming you even have feelings for me?" he chuckled.

"Of course I do!" she said punching him in the arm. He recoiled and rubbed the spot while laughing.

"You never said it out loud, how am I supposed to know?" he asked innocently holding his hands up in defense. She held her clenched fist up ready for another strike.

"I told you if you ever doubted that I care for you I'd sock you." she replied giving him an irritated look.

As he closed his arms around her, he couldn't help but realize how he had much he had been missing the sweet smell of sandalwood that hung in her hair. When he had woken that morning he had remembered everything and panicked. What was she going to think of him after seeing him in such a vulnerable state? Even worse was all of his feelings had dribbled over his lips without any control. He had been so afraid she would run in fear or think he was weird because they had grown up together. They had always been close, but they two had always had a special bond. He kissed the top of her head as he released her and stared into her blue eyes.

"So what does this mean?" she asked rather meekly. It made him smile.

"This means you will be my very awesome girlfriend who knows extremely scary details about me. Everyone will be jealous." Trinity rolled her eyes at him and shook her head. She bopped him playfully on the nose and bolted for the castle. He took off after him and when he started to pass her she sent a jinx at him which caused him to trip rather roughly into the dead grass. He returned the favor but she landed lightly on her front.

Laughing, she watched him as he caught up to their brothers sitting under the tree. She was finally happy that things were going right. It was going to be hard dealing with the absence of Quidditch but they would manage. As she pushed herself up onto all fours a shiny object caught her eye. She picked it up gingerly to find it was a gold Galleon. 'Fred much have dropped it when he fell', she thought. Something about it looked off at first glance but she shook her head and stuffed it in her pocket before setting off to meet them.

"Now what?" George asked.

"Well we weren't really doing our work to begin with and we can just procrastinate 'til later tonight. What do you guys want to do?" Donovan asked. The red headed twins made the same "thinking" pose by crossing both arms but touching their chins with one finger.

"We could work on some new goodies for the Skiving Snackboxes?" Fred suggested.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" George asked looking at Donovan who shrugged.

"I'll just be the babysitter." he shrugged.

"Bring it! But I am NOT testing the puking one this time! It was impossible to get that taste out of my mouth, not to mention keeping the cure down long enough for it to actually work!" Trinity said excitedly.

Fred put his arm around her as they headed back to the castle glad to have his best friend back.


	11. Chapter 10

"What the hell is this?" Fred and George turned suddenly at the sound of Trinity's angry voice. They were the only ones left in the Gryffindor common room that evening and were huddled on the couch in front of the fire place.

"…And you better tell me the truth…" her voice dropped to a low threat. Fred's eyes traveled from her face to the object that she was thrusting out towards them. It was a shiny Galleon-the one Hermione had given them to inform them of their meetings for Dumbledore's Army. Instantly both boys jumped up off the couch and slowly started to approach the girl standing just inside the common room door. She flicked the coin at them and it landed heavily on the floor with a muffled metallic noise. Fred stooped to retrieve it from the floor and George looked over his shoulder at the numbers that would change whenever Hermione set a time. Fred met Trinity's eyes and saw many mean words residing there just waiting for a trigger.

"Where did you get this?" George asked taking the coin from his brother who approached Fred. Her hands were clenched at her sides as she looked up at Fred. He longed to pull her in close and soothe away her anger. But this was different. It was directed at him this time and he deserved it.

"I found it on the ground the day Fred professed his undying love for me. I assumed it fell out of his pocket when I made him fall flat on his face. I figured it was just a plain old coin until I saw Hermione with one earlier today in the library. She stuffed it away when I came near her and I remembered thinking the one I had found was odd. So I look at it today and I find that, the numbers have changed to sometime next week. So what's next week?" Trinity practically growled, her head cocking sideways to look at him. Fred was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped, trying to decide if he was really about to tell her why he had really been making excuses not to see her.

"Last day of term?" George said sarcastically. She turned her fiery glare at him and he seemed to flinch away from her energy. Her eyes turned back to Fred who was still silent.

"No answer. Well then, lets see if you can answer this question. Two nights ago, I asked if we could spend some time together just you and I. Your answer was that we would do it another night because you had to talk to Ron about Quidditch stuff. I accepted that because Ron needs all the help he can get and you said we would do it this weekend. I go back to the common room and mention this to Donovan and he tells me that not only did he see you with Ron, but with the whole troublesome trio, Luna Lovegood, Lee Jordan, Cho Chang and her friend, and Angelina…" the last name was almost a hiss. Fred inhaled sharply.

"It's not what you think." he said.

"What do I think Fred?"

"I haven't cheated on you."

" You have obviously been lying to me since my detentions back in September. Why should I believe you now?" Hurt shown in both of their eyes as her words sunk in. But she was right. He had been lying to her about the D.A. meetings from the start. He knew that she would love to be apart of it and probably knew things that would curl Potter's hair but he couldn't bring himself to tell her. Something about her innocence to it suited him. He swallowed hard.

"Hermione is the one who changes the numbers on the coins."

"Fred!" George exclaimed but Fred held up a hand to quiet him.

"What are the numbers for?" she pried

"They tell anyone who has one when the next meeting will be in the Room."

"What meeting?" she asked almost afraid to hear the answer.

"For Dumbledore's Army." he almost whispered. Trinity's eyes narrowed then and she took a small step back.

"It's a student group that has been practicing the kind of magic that Umbridge refuses to teach us in the classroom. Harry wanted us to be able to defend ourselves if the need were to arise."

"And I wasn't invited?" she said, shaking her head in disgust as she talked.

"The first meeting was during the first Hogsmeade visit. We didn't want to tell you because you were already stressing about keeping up with your homework and coming up with enough essence of whatever for after your detentions with Umbridge. We were afraid you'd get overwhelmed."

"And you haven't told me since then because?" Fred took a step closer to her and grabbed one of her hands even though she tried to avoid him.

"At first it was just because you were still trying to catch up with your studies and Hermione told us to keep it a secret. But, after Umbridge disbanded all student organizations because she got a whisper that our group might exist I didn't tell you to protect you. There were rumors that Umbridge was going to be going after suspected group members and I didn't want you to get hurt because of something you weren't even apart of and only knew about it. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"And that justifies lying to me?" she asked, her voice cracking. Fred swallowed, his throat starting to burn at her pain.

"Lying to me almost every single day. The only thing I have ever asked from you is the truth. I didn't think that was a very hard request of someone I grew up with." Fred was absentmindedly rubbing the back of both of her hands and staring at the pale skin that covered her hands there.

"What do you think I thought when I heard that Angelina was one of the people you were sneaking away with and lying to me about?"

"That I was cheating on you."

"Oh yeah! I was so hurt, so livid but I let it go because I believed that since we had started dating there was no way you would lie to me or hide something like this from me. I mean, I knew all those excuses to not hangout with me were lies but I just thought you were running off to do something stupid with Heckle over there. But no…it was something entirely different…and you wouldn't share it with me because it was supposed to be a secret. When has that EVER stopped us from sharing everything before? Ever!" the force of her words pushed the first tear to fall onto her cheek.

"I just feel like I don't know you anymore…" she whispered out, tears pouring over her slightly reddened cheeks. Fred fell to his knees and hugged her around the thighs. Her breathed in the smell of her robes and it made him want to hold her close and soothe her worries. He felt her hands push lightly on his shoulders and he let her go slowly. He raised back to his feet and could feel his eyes burn.

"I can't do this if I'm going to be lied to constantly…that's not the Fred I know…So, when you find him again, let me know okay?" Trinity said, her voice shaky. She raised up onto her tip toes to kiss his cheek but he pulled her close and kissed her soft lips. She so badly wanted to fall into his embrace but her own words echoed in her mind and she pulled away from him. She sniffled as she turned away and left back through the door way. It would be the longest walk back to her common room she had ever taken.

Fred watched her go as an imaginary knife plunged into his chest. He gasped at the sheer weight of it and dabbed the wetness from his cheeks. He had just lost the only person of the opposite sex who completed him. Not that he could blame her.

Things had been good for a while. They had lots of laughs, study sessions, and make out sessions. There had been no lies, no drama, no friction. After two weeks, things had reverted to normal. He was dodging her at almost every turn and when she called him out at last about his lies, they had had their first big fight. It had ended up being a miscommunication but it had left doubts in her mind and bruises on her heart. Even after the fight, he was only lie free for only a few days before he started to lie again. If he had been her, he would have dumped her a long time ago. 'No I woudn't have', he thought to himself, walking past George to the dorms. 'I would have fought for her. Stood by her like she did to me…' He came to the sad realization then about how much of an asshole he had been to her. He really feared he would never be able to get her back and gain her trust. And he needed her.


	12. Chapter 11

Trinity walked towards the common room after her Potions midterm. There were only a few days left before she would be heading back home for the holidays. There would be her father's green bean casserole and her mother's amazing strawberry angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. The house would be decked with mistletoe and wreaths adorned with holly. Everything would be warm and cozy with nothing to hint that there was indeed snow outside on the ground. Usually they would have one dinner at their house and one at the Weasley's but this year she wasn't so sure how welcomed she would be. Would the family still love her? She hadn't talked to George or Ron since she and Fred had broken up and she didn't see Ginny all that often. At least she was still civil.

As she arrived on the floor of her common room, she brushed her black bangs out of her eyes. Ever since she had broken up with Fred, her hair had turned black to mirror her sorrow and her eyes had turned a dark shade of gray. As she looked up she saw Hermione and she felt a smile break her shady demeanor. But it was quickly whisked away when she realized that she was walking with people from the group she had been left out of. They were heading in the direction of the Room of Requirement and Trinity let her face fall to the floor as she passed the red headed twins. She felt a stab to her chest as she and Fred's eyes met for a split second. Her own pain was reflected on his face and she longed to be in his arms. Was she supposed to apologize to him? Had she been in the wrong? She didn't know what to do anymore. But it had lasted only a moment and they were on opposite sides of the hall. She entered the common room, longing for term to be over already.~

Trinity drummed her fingers against her leg in a nervous twitch. Couldn't the train go any faster? She wished she could have just used her power of apparition to get home as soon as she had gotten to Hogsmeade station but no. That was frowned upon. Donovan and Hermione had pulled her onto the train, a nervous wreck and tried to help her calm down. They would be home soon and everything would be okay. Wouldn't it?

She wasn't sure what had happened, if anything, but something didn't feel right. She had had a strange dream a few nights before involving a chase on foot after someone with red hair, then falling into a river whose currents dragged her away and nearly drowned her. She managed to pull herself onto the banks of the river and was greeted by a black dog that led her through the woods to a graveyard. After roaming the foggy landscape trying to make out names an dates she had woken soaked in her own sweat with her hair sticking out in a handful of directions. She had no problem pushing it out of her mind until classes the next day when she noticed that all of the red headed siblings were missing. Trinity approached Hermione only to be informed that Harry had also left suddenly. Instantly her stomach had dropped and she was reminded of her dream. Hopefully everyone was okay.

Now she stared out the window impatiently, trying to ignore the fact that Hermione had decided to sit with she and Donovan in their compartment. Trinity was bitter with everyone in the D.A. group that she knew who hadn't told her anything. She had thought over Fred's reason for excluding her and after a LOT of thought she decided his intentions were good. She still couldn't bring herself to forgive everyone else, especially Hermione. They had spent plenty of weekends and late nights cramming for exams and subject matter they weren't sure would even by on their tests. They had girl time away from all of the guy drama, like when Harry and Ron has a fight the previous year during the Triwizard Tournament. Now Hermione swayed with the motion of the train stealing glances at Trinity whenever she could, hoping to catch her eye. It was starting to grow on Trinity's nerves so she pulled her crotchet project out of her messenger bag and began to create stitches feverishly, making sure to count off in her head so it didn't start to shrink or go inappropriately. Still, Hermione continued to stare wanting to start a conversation but not sure of what to say.

Donovan, practically swimming in the tension, jumped up from his seat and clutched the door knob.

"Well. This is fun and all, but I'm going to go seek out Antony. I'm sure he'll be able to provide me with something more entertaining than watching friends at war." Trinity couldn't help but snort.

"Oh I bet that snake can give you something real hard to do." she murmured under her breath as a blush ignited on Don's face. He turned the knob, checked the hall for any of his psycho squad, and slammed the door behind him. Hermione giggled behind her hand and soon, the two girls were left with their own silence again. Trinity threw down her needle and yarn in the seat beside her.

"What?" Hermione jumped.

"What do you want? Why do you keep staring at me!" Trinity barked. Hermione swallowed and set her book aside.

"I wanted to know if you were okay?" she said with a small voice. It touched Trinity, but she wasn't going to give in that easily.

"No, I'm not okay. I found out that I was being lied to by the love of my life for months…and not only by him, but by other close friends. I never thought I'd be left out of something as cool as this whole Army idea when I have so much to offer younger students. That may be big headed of me, but I don't care. I hate liars! We tell each other everything and all of a sudden, this one thing is too big to enlighten me on? Bollucks! You'd have your panties in knots if I hadn't told you about my crush on Fred, or how Don was gay! So how do you think I am?" Trinity had almost risen off of her seat and her fists were clenched and white knuckled. Hermione looked a little taken aback at the verbal attack she had received and sat in silence for a few moments.

"May I ask a question?"

"Is it a sensitive subject?" Hermione nodded.

"It's never stopped you before so please, fire away." Trinity said, resuming her crochet work.

"Do you still have feelings for Fred?"

"I can't believe you even have to ask that…" Trinity's words were barely audible. Hermione sighed and touched her knee. Trinity looked at her and an unspoken conversation took place in the meeting of their eyes.

"Why did you break up with him?"

"I couldn't stand the lies! I would have preferred him just telling me and being honest. That would have been easier to swallow than lying to me all the time…" Trinity sighed.

"Are you guys going to get back together?" Hermione pried, nudging her with her foot.

"I hope so. I really love him." Trinity smiled weakly.

"Then tell him! God I'd love for him to stop moping around like a lonely puppy dog! It's so unlike him!" Hermione said.

"He mopes around?" Trinity said, raising an eyebrow. Hermione nodded vigorously.

"That or he talks about you constantly! Please tell him how you feel when you see him next. I'm tired of Fred…not being Fred." Hermione said smiling. Trinity shrugged.

"We'll see…" she sighed, realizing she had lost count of her stitches. She growled, eliciting a giggle from Hermione, as she undid the last 2 lines of stitches.~

**Authors Note: **I feel like I moved from them dating to breaking up WAY too fast. Input?


	13. Chapter 12

Three weeks.

It had been three long weeks of holiday stuck at home with no news from the wizarding world. Three long weeks of no one but Donovan and her parents to keep her company. Three long weeks with not a single red haired family member to appear at her house as tradition would call for. In fact, the Weasley house had been silent the whole time Trinity and Donovan were home. Thankfully, her father had taken a week off to catch up with his children and St. Mungo's had given her mother some nice shifts so she could have family time as well. But, when the ash twins were left home by themselves, they couldn't help but crave the brick walls of Hogwarts. Trinity had kept herself busy by writing up ideas for additions to the Skiving Snackboxes and their possible recipes. Donovan on the other hand wrote letters to Antony, his Slytherin crush, and skimmed his Transfiguration book. When they got really bored, they would change their features and see who could be more outrageous. Finally, they had taken the long train ride back and arrived at the castle late enough that they were served dinner and ushered away to their common rooms.

The first day of term had gone smoothly so far and lunch had been delightful. Trinity had a free period after lunch and she found herself sprinting up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. She longed to see just a glimpse of red hair, didn't matter which sibling it was.

People stared at her as she whizzed past them at full speed. Some had to look twice, others just shook their head. Even a few teachers looked the other way, but not the little pink toad. The tip of her wand followed Trinity from one staircase to another. As Trinity was half way up one set of stairs Umbridge forced the staircase to move and it's destination would turn Trinity it completely the wrong direction. She leaped from the moving staircase to it's former home platform and barely made her landing. She cursed under her breath (as did Umbridge) and massaged a stitch in her side as she took off again. Three weeks fueled her, even when her lungs began to burn. Three weeks to run every way this meeting could go. Yet, three weeks hadn't prepared her for any actual conversation.

She reached the landing of the seventh floor and could see the Fat Lady in her sights. She walked quickly, the stitch in her side demanding attention. She was breathless and slightly sweaty as she passed other students who were giving her weird looks. When she was a few feet away, she saw the portrait swing forward and a red hair appear. She stopped dead in her tracks and her chest gave a tight squeeze. She walked slower now and Fred had stopped momentarily when he saw her but was walking towards her. 'What do I say?' she thought alarmed. 'I'm sorry?' No to obvious. 'I love you.' Too overbearing. 'Forgive me?' What did you kill his dog? She sighed as they stopped face-to-face.

"Hi." she breathed. His eyes studied her.

"Hello love." he replied, the smallest hint of a smile pulling at the left side of his lips.

"How was your holiday?" sadness pulled at his eyebrows and mouth.

"Would have been better with you there." he joked, tugging one of her braid. Her hair was lightening back to it's ash blonde as each word came out.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I can't tell you that." When Fred saw anger flash in her eyes, he held his hands up. "At least not here. Not now."

"When?" there was almost a demanding tone to her voice and she tried to squash it. He didn't owe her anything.

"Hmmm…" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"How about tonight. After curfew. We'll meet in the R.O.R. Just you and me…unless you want to bring the twins?" he smiled.

"You mean the babysitters!" they both broke into giggles as they shared the private joke from their childhood.

"That's perfect." Trinity smiled brightly and Fred nodded. Trinity held out her hand to him.

"Friends?" Fred raised an eyebrow at her hand then met her eyes. He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her in a brief hug. Trinity inhaled his scent of cinnamon and warmth. Life family. And yet, she could practically feel the mischief ooze from him. He released her and clasped her arms while leaning down so he was eye level with her.

"We never stopped being friends, Trin. We both just thought that distance would help." she nodded with him and she couldn't help but share his smile. She felt a little more complete now that she had her best friend back.

As they parted ways, Fred planted a kiss on the top of her head before speeding away. Trinity looked after him and felt her cheeks warm. She fought the urge to chase him down and proceeded to the common room instead hoping her twin would be there to talk to.

"We were at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. You know….Sirius' house?" Fred said gesturing with his hands as he talked to her.

"How is he? I miss him." Trinity smiled. She had met Sirius a few times as a child but mostly she only saw him on a few holidays out of the year anymore.

"He's ok. Pretty restless being locked in a house he ran away from. But anyways, Dumbledore and the lot thought it would be safer for the family there than at the house after what happened to dad." the look on Trinity's face confused him.

"What happened to dad?"

"No one told you?" he asked softly and she shook her head.

"He was attacked by Voldemort's snake while he was working one night. If Harry hadn't dreamt it and demanded to see McGonagell, he would've died." Fred instantly regretted his wording. He almost seemed to be calling her stupid and it wasn't her fault. Not all the teachers realized the closeness of their families. He watched a handful of emotions cross her face.

"How did Harry dream it?" she asked baffled. Fred shrugged.

"Something about his mind being connected to Voldemort's mind."

"Is that safe?" she demanded looking at Fred in disbelief. He threw up his hands.

"I doubt it but apparently 'Dumbledore has a plan'." he said with exaggerated air quotes. He rolled his eyes and chuckled until Trinity touched his hand.

"Is dad okay?" he placed his hand over hers and rubbed little circles there.

"He's been better. But he got to leave St. Mungo's this morning after promising your mother that he wouldn't return to work until he was in perfect health. So mom is watching him like a hawk and taking care of him. Luckily if anything weird happens your mom is a hop, skip and a jump away." Fred chuckled.

"Stop worrying. He's fine." he said as extra reassurance to Trinity. He felt wetness on the back of his hand and he looked from there to Trinity's face but she was staring back at him with a surprised look on her face. She reached a hand towards his cheek and wiped away a tear. He looked at it then wiped both his hands across his cheeks to find even more tears. They were free flowing from his eyes and he wasn't sure why.

"How cute." Trinity teased. She pinched Fred's cheek and he pulled away from her.

"Shut up!" he swallowed. She giggled and mussed his hair. When the tears had finally stopped, she prepared herself for another big subject.

"So…what about 'us'?" she asked. Fred played with the bottom of his shirt.

"I don't know. Do you want to be with me?"

"Of course I do." she exclaimed. " I just can't stand the lies!"

"What if I promise no more lies? Will you be my girlfriend again?" he asked hopeful. She shook her head and raised his chin when it dropped to his chest.

"I want to be your girlfriend again, but I'm not going to dive in head first this time. You have to prove to me that there will be no lies. That you are the same old Fred that I know." she smiled. "That I fell in love with…"

Fred raised her hand to his lips and placed a kiss there before pulling her in for a hug. He breathed in her perfume happily and pulled away to smile down at her.

"I promise I can do that."

"Good. Otherwise, I'll spend the rest of my life killing off the bitches who try and take you from me." he shook his head.

"Sadly I know you would too."

Trinity dug in the pocket of her robes then and procured a piece of paper.

"I came up with these during the break. What do you think?" Realizing that the paper contained mischief, Fred grinned an evil grin.

"I say we better get started!"

**Author's Note: **In case you haven't noticed I have started placing "~" after paragraphs where major breaks occur. I also promise that this time, the romance will progress-not have drastic ups and downs.


	14. Chapter 13

Trinity stared at herself in the floor length mirror located by her bedside in the common room. She was practically snarled at herself as she raked her fingers through her hair one way only to try the other way a second later. Should she part her hair to the right? How about the left? Bangs pinned back? Then what about the color? Natural? Strawberry? Something really off the wall like rainbow with hearts? Trinity growled at herself and pulled her hair over her face. Why did this have to be so difficult? This was just another day of the year with someone she had known her entire life almost, so why was she so nervous?

Trinity glared at herself in the mirror then and willed her features to change. Her hair layered and curved itself into voluptuous curls that gave her a flirty. She gave into holiday spirit by allowing light red lowlights to be added to her do. Her complexion was flawless and she couldn't help but add a few aqua flecks to her eyes. She looked at her figure which was slender for the most part. Her only downfall was the curve of her hips and chest. 'Damn you hips', she thought to herself as she pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans that almost looked as if they didn't want to shimmy over her wide waist. She layered on top of it a white spaghetti strap under a red V-neck top. As she left her room she grabbed a lightweight black trench coat that only fell to her mid-thigh. She felt slightly overdressed for a trip to Hogsmeade as she passed younger students who were in their school robes in the common room. She met Donovan just outside the common room and he looked nervous. He linked arms with her as soon as both of her feet hit the floor and pulled her towards the Great Hall. Trinity looked behind to see a growing group of girls oggling after them.

"What's going on?" she whispered to him, trying her best to avoid eye contact with any of the hungry eyed girls that were following them.

"This is the worst day of the year for 'closet man'." he whispered to her. She nodded as they saw the Hogsmeade group in the distance.

"Aw, poor closet man." she teased. They jumped the last couple of steps and immersed themselves in the group of people to lose Donovan's stalkers. Her broke away from her as soon as he felt safe to go find his own date for the trip. Trinity looked around for someone she knew like the troublesome trio or Luna Lovegood when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned and her eyes were drawn to a bouquet of red and orange roses. Holding them of course, was her favorite red headed twin who had a wide grin plastered on his face.

"For a beautiful lady on Valentine's day…" he started and she rolled her eyes at him as she took the roses. "…is what a chump would say."

"A chump, huh?" she giggled.

"I thought you would like them. I know you love orange roses and the red just goes with the holiday." he explained as they began the walk to Hogsmeade. She cradled the flowers in her right arm so she could link the fingers on her other hand with Fred's. They got a few stares, and heated whispers behind palms but they just kept walking.

It wasn't official yet, it was still a work in progress but it was going. They tried to hang out every couple nights and were learning to respect each others needs for their own time. Finding the line in their relationship that divided friends and a couple seemed harder and harder to find after every late night meet up in the Room. They were both starting to realize how much of a foundation they already had and how easy a real relationship would be but Trinity was afraid. She didn't want to fall into old ways and find herself submerged in lies again. But, it was getting harder and harder to deny Fred whenever he did something romantic like the roses. Trinity just couldn't help herself.

"So where to?" Trinity asked as they reached the main street that ran through the town. "Zonko's? Honeydukes? Hogs Head?" When she looked at Fred his smile was just as big as ever. The butterflies she was harboring gave a sickening lurch then.

"I actually have something planned." he said, leading her away before she could complain. They broke away from the group and headed down the way towards the Shrieking Shack. Trinity couldn't help but steal disbelieving glances at her date. Was he serious? They both knew it was just a hideout for Lupin when he attended school and it would be empty but hardly romantic! To add to Trinity's confusion Donovan, Antony, Sahara, and Claire were waiting for them at the gate with a rather large picnic basket.

They made their way to a rather large bedroom on the second floor and the girls spread out a huge purple blanket to sit on. They sat in a circle as Fred started to unload three separate boxes. He looked at the contents of each box before handing it out.

"Sandwiches and fruit for the lovely ladies. Chinese food for closet boy and his sidekick. For us, garlic chicken and veggies." Fred giggled at the bewildered look on Donovan's face. Trinity looked around the group and her eyes grew wide as she came to a realization about the girls.

"You two!" she said, pointing at Sahara and Claire. They both blushed and nodded. "How long!" Trinity demanded. The couple looked at each other then back to Trinity.

"Um…it's been unofficially official since just before Christmas." Sahara said a little unsure. "As in we're dating but no one needs to know." Trinity nodded in understanding then looked at her brother. He was halfway through feeding Antony a bite of food with chopsticks when he realized she was looking at them. He finished the affectionate act before turning his attention to her.

"And I'm going to assume this is Antony?"

"Yes of course." Donovan piped. "Antony, this is my sister Trinity, her boyfriend Fred, and Trinity's friends Sahara and Claire." the Slytherin boy nodded to them all. He was tan and had medium length golden hair than flowed with the slightest wave to curl around his ears. He seemed rather uncomfortable in all of their attention. A noise in the hall made all of them jump but they were relieved to see it was only Raquelle, Merril, and George. They took seats next to the girls and Fred handed them their own boxes.

"And this is my brother George, and Trinity's other friends Raquelle and Merril." Fred added to Donovan's introduction. Antony nodded to them as well and finally cracked a smile.

"I've heard a lot of good things." he said in a light voice that was made for music. As everyone began to dig in to their boxes, Fred broke out a few bottles of butterbeer and began to pour cups.

"I've brought you all here to the first Valentine's Day Mischief-nic. A place for the secret relationships or single people to come and mingle. As most of us are 7th years this may be the only one so let's make it a good one." Fred raised his glass and they all toasted. They broke back into their food, happy to share the positive energy.~

~After having finished their meal with chocolate covered strawberries and a rather risqué game of 'Truth or Dare', Fred walked Trinity back to her common room hand-in-hand. They were laughing so hard at each other's lame jokes that they weren't sure if they found each other actually funny or if it was the butterbeer laughing. Had they seen Umbridge trying to unsuccessfully spell them apart a few doors away, they probably would've laughed at how purple her face was turning.

Fred spun Trinity in a circle to face him when they stopped in front of the Ravenclaw common room. Her cheeks were rosy and her waves were starting to deflate. He pulled her close to him and looked down at her.

"Will I see you later tonight?" he asked quietly.

"I can't dear. I have to wait for closet man to get back and make sure he's okay. I also have to prepare for my private study with Pomfrey tomorrow." she said, pouting. He chuckled at her childishness.

"Than let this be a clue of what you're missing out on." Fred said and pressed his lips to hers. Her body instantly folded into his and his fingers tangled to into her hair. He broke away before he had a chance to lose himself (or get caught by a teacher) and poked her nose.

"I'll see you around." he mussed her hair and turned away to his own common room. She wanted to give in then, to call him her's. She couldn't give in just yet though, not yet. It wasn't the right moment.

"Be safe." she yelled to him and he waived her away.

"Always."~


	15. Chapter 14

_March faded into April with little to no drama. Trinity and the twins buckled down on the Skiving Snackboxes and the Whizbangs to help get their minds off of the fact they couldn't play Quidditch. It was working rather well too, aside from a serious burn that destroyed Fred's eyebrows. They all had a good laugh, especially when Trinity attempted to fix them and his eyebrows grew out of control. He demanded she tame the "fuzzy caterpillars" living on his upper brow before they finished for the night but she was reluctant to do so. So many people would have gotten a good laugh out of it. But in the end, she fixed his eyebrows and they parted ways early on so not to draw attention to themselves. It may not have been said out loud, but they were a couple in that moment of shared laughter- of love. Even George felt it and began to tease Fred the moment they were in the port hole. Fred pushed him away and teased right back but in his head, he hoped that everything would go right this time. _

_**April**_

Trinity flipped through her textbook while drumming her fingers on the desk. Dumbledore had recently been sacked which had left Umbridge in charge. Many students from every house but Slytherin walked around sporting words carved into the back of their hands which was causing Trinity to pull long hours helping Pomphrey in the hopsital wing. She spent her hours after classes mending lacerations and distributing gauze patches saturated with Essence of Murtlap. She felt bad for the innocent first years she had to care for but she had the same cuts layered on top of old scars from the beginning of the year. She pasted on a smile, tried to reassure her patients, and sent them on their way.

Umbridge's tyranny had called for justice or in this case chaos. The hated headmistress had no idea what was coming to her as Trinity sat in her seat waiting for the time to come. She pulled out her quill and a special piece of parchment that she and Fred had enchanted and wrote out a note to him. The paper transferred the note to a matching piece of paper allowing the two to talk to each other during their busy school days. She chewed on the tip before touching it to the parchment.

_What's going on? _

The parchment lay blank longer than she would have liked. But before worry could grasp her heart, Fred's messy scrawl appeared.

_Don't blink. You might miss it T._

Trinity snorted. Another ridiculous pet name that he had dredged up from the dead. She stuffed the parchment back into her bag as she caught a flicker of movement from the corner of her eye. The professor walked past her and she kept her eyes low to the ground. Any moment now it would happen and sure enough in the distance she heard what sounded like a clap of thunder. Heads shot up all around the Great Hall and students began to murmur. Trinity straightened up in her seat and looked towards the doors her brow furrowing. Truth was, she had an idea of what was about to happen but the Twins had given her little tells that there would be a surprise. She gripped her wand in her right hand, trying to be ready for anything.

Suddenly the doors burst open with an ear shattering 'Boom' causing several students to jump out of their seats including Trinity. The silence that followed was eerie. Everyone seemed to hold their breath until blinding light burst with another loud boom above their heads. Trinity gasped. Flying pigs, pinwheels, and dragons flew over their heads in a dazzling array of colors. The other students, obviously not paying attention to their test anymore, were hustled together pointing and shouting at each other though it was near impossible to hear anything over the fireworks. Their teacher wa racing back and forth in a sad attempt to figure out what was going on and how to get things under control.

As a menacing looking dragon flew over Trinity's head, what appeared to be a "scale" pulled itself from the great beast's side and fluttered towards her as if carried by a ghost wind. As it fluttered just away from her nose, the form changed to that of a small pixie made completely of colored light. It enticed her the way it floated in the air and flitted just out of her sight before reappearing again. As she held her hand out to it, it zapped the tip of her finger. She recoiled and scrunched up her nose at it. It giggled at her and burst into little bits of glittery dust that fell slowly to the ground. It was just like the twins to do something of that sort. Trinity was ushered out of her class with the rest of her fellow Ravenclaws and it seemed all the surrounding classrooms were doing the same. Donovan ran up to her with a smile pulled wide across his face.

"That was fantastic!" he exclaimed.

"I know right!" she almost shrieked back unable to shake the smile from her face. She glanced around them quickly and saw that the teachers were trying to take a head count. "What do you say we get out of here?" Trinity asked her brother raising her wand and pressing it to the part of his robes that were Ravenclaw colors. They instantly shifted from sapphire and silver to rich shades of gold and crimson. A devlish grin flashed across his face as suddenly his features started to twist so that in a matter of seconds a taller, well muscled brunette boy with broad shoulders stood before her. She raised an eyebrow at him, now just tall enough to reach his chin with jet black ringlets and piercing amber eyes. They glanced at the teachers and took off at a slow jog to the nearest corner. Donovan peaked around the wall to make sure no one had noticed them and chuckled.

"So what shall we do m'lady?" he gave a low bow to Trinity. As she was about to reply, a huge flying pig thundered past them making them both crouch low to the floor.

"Lets go find the twins." Donovan nodded. They kept their disguises on until they found the red headed fiends in throws of hoarse laughter with a group of other Gryffindor's near their common room. They cast a strange glance at the Bastille twins as they approached and their whole little group grew quiet.

"What do you want?" Fred said looking them up and down. Trinity walked right up to him and kissed him, laughing at everyone's reaction as her features contorted back to normal.

"Whoa…"

"You are genius's!" she beamed at him. He tweaked her nose and shrugged.

"Yes, yes we are." Trinity punched his arm playfully.

"Way to kill it!"

"Of course." Fred said snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her close. He kissed her on the cheek and turned back to his friends who were looking away from their public display of affection.

"Tonight we celebrate the demise of the toad!"

They all cheered and disappeared into the Gryffindor common room. The party didn't start until well after curfew but it was well worth the wait. Both sets of twins had traveled to Hogsmeade to get Butter Beer among other things while someone had convinced the House Elves in the kitchen to send snacks. They drank and ate until the early morning hours. Fred walked Trinity to her common room as the sun started to rise.

"You think they will make us retake our tests?" Trinity asked.

"I hope not."

"Me either." she smiled. As the portrait swung forward to allow her in, Fred left her with a simple kiss goodnight. She looked after him for a few moments before practically crawling to her bed. She didn't even lose her clothes. She merely fell forward onto her perfectly made bed and was out before she touched the soft blackets.


	16. Chapter 15

Easter Holiday was welcomed by the twins with open arms. With six weeks until exams they should be studying for the last school tests they would ever have to take. Instead, they were in the Room circled around a platter of Skiving Snackbox candies. Trintiy had her face scrunched as George handed her a trashcan with a smile.

"Why do I have to do Puking Pastilles? You know how much I hate to vomit!" she said while looking pleadingly at Fred. He shrugged and picked up a different sweet that was placed closest to him.

"You're making me do Fainting Fancy and I hate having head pains. So bear with us sweetie." he teased and bit one end off the candy. Trinity reluctantly bit one end off her pastille while the other two twins had Fever Fudge and Nosebleed Nougat. They swallowed and cast nervous glances at each other.

Suddenly George gripped the table as his skin became extremely red and a sheen of sweat covered him. Donovan went to comfort him but blood shot out of his nose and he covered it with both hands. Fred fell backwards like a rock and landed with a loud bang. Trinity started to laugh loudly and almost puked on everyone. Luckily she was able to move the trashcan just in time and save them the trouble. She felt around blindly on the table for the relief half of her candy while George chewed his slowly. George pushed Donovan's into his mouth since he was too busy holding a cloth to his nose. As her sickness stopped for a split second, she shoved the candy into the side of her mouth and desperately chewed and tried to swallow. She hoped it would be in her system long enough to work. Her stomach hurt so much. When it all finally stopped and she was able to place the can aside, George was leaning down by Fred and making him manually chew the other side of his candy. It took a few minutes, but eventually Fred started to come too.

"Well I think it is safe to say they work." Donovan said wiping his nose on the back of his hand, only to get discouraged by the fact that his nose was still bleeding.

"Yeah a little too well…" Trinity murmured trying not to smell her own breath.

"Hmm….what?" Fred groaned. He looked at all of them and touched his head. "Over already? That was fast." They all shook their heads.

"Time for round two?" Fred asked grinning. The other three groaned and collapsed in chairs. He chuckled loudly and threw them all Canary Creams. They all sighed and unwrapped them.

"At least they won't make us sick." Trinity said holding up the candy before eating it. The boys raised their candies to match her and devoured their own. In a few seconds the room was full of ripped clothes and 4 humongous canaries.~

Trinity sat in her dorm with her Potions book propped open on her lap a few weeks later trying to catch up on what she had been putting off. She had her elbow resting on her knee as she scanned over a chapter about healing remedies. She was aiming for a job at St. Mungo's like her mother so she needed to do really, really well on her Potions N.E.W.T. as well as her Charms one. Her roommates were elsewhere but that wasn't unusual. Sometimes they stayed in another dorm with their friends and rarely that would stay in one of the other houses. Her Monster Book made an usual gurgling sound and she reached over to her night stand to stroke it. It purred happily and grew silent. It was like having a pet that she didn't have to feed.

She yawned as she glanced out the window to see the moon in the distance. The night was pretty clear with only a few fluffy clouds to obscure the stars. She loved nights like this when she was home. She and the boys would lay back on the hill near their houses and stare at the stars. She and Donovan would name constellations that they had learned from Sirius and Lupin and Fred and George would twist the names into naughty things. They all would laugh and Trinity would get embarrassed which only made them laugh harder. She ran her fingers through her hair and placed her book aside. She pulled off her robes when their was a knock at the door. She hesitated when there was another frantic knock at the door. She opened it slowly and raised an eyebrow.

Fred was standing in front of her door bracing himself against the walls since the stairs had gone flat in an attempt to keep him out. He smiled nervously and gulped as one of his feet slipped.

"You should really let me in…" he said his voice shaky as he replaced his foot on the wall.

"Oh I should?" Trinity said, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame. He nodded frantically. Suddenly his weight moved backwards and his hands came off the wall. His eyes grew wide as he started to fall backwards but Trinity jumped forward and grabbed his hand. She threw herself backwards and pulled him through the doorway and he kicked the door shut. She stumbled backwards a few steps but didn't fall on her face like Fred did. He breathed hard before pushing himself up on his elbows.

"Why did you wait?"

"Because it was funny watching you struggle." she teased, scrunching her nose at him. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her to the ground. She let out a small shriek and landed on the carpet beside him.

"Why did you do that!?" she said loudly trying to push her hair out of her face.

"Because it was funny." he said imitating her voice. She instantly made a pouty face at him and he poked her on the nose.

"Jerk." He chuckled at the expression on her face and pulled her to her feet.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after he had kissed her forehead. He leaned down and drew her in for a long kiss. A light blush instantly arose on her cheek.

"I just wanted to see you…ya know, we haven't really seen each other lately…especially with the toad around…" She nodded slowly, staring at his lips. He raised an eyebrow and lifted her chin so she would look at him. Her blush grew darker as she realized he had caught her.

"And where is your mind wandering?" he said in a low voice.

"N-Nowhere…" she murmured.

"Really ?" he said. He grabbed her arms and pushed her against the wall which caused a look of pure shock to cross her face. He pressed against her and looked down into her eyes as he leaned in to kiss her. Before she could fully appreciate it, he pulled away. She tried to move forward to kiss him but he pulled his face away from her's. She whined which made him smile.

"Now what were you thinking of?" he pried. She shook her head and he attacked her again. This time he pushed her head aside with his and placed rough kisses against the flesh of her neck. The feel of his slight stubble on her skin caused her to get shivers and arch her back, which made the slight space between them nonexistent. As her chest pressed to his a noise escaped his lips that caused her eyes to snap open. In his moment of weakness Trinity pulled him to her and crushed her lips against his. She tangled her fingers into his hair as he braced his hands on either side of her, his waist pressed against hers. As she pulled away from the kiss, she bit his lip meeting his eyes. There was something dark there she hadn't seen before. She pulled him in for another round of intense kisses when both sets of hands began to wander.

"Trinity…" he moaned her name sweetly as her hand fell between his legs and began to stroke his hard length.

"Aw…what's the matter Fred?" she whispered teasingly in his ear. His hips worked with her, eliciting moans from him. As he stole another rough kiss from her, she moved her arms around his neck. He pulled away from her and looked into her eyes.

"Why did you stop?" he asked breathily.

"Because it was funny…" she whispered in his ear. He grabbed her legs roughly and wrapped them around his waist. He carried her to the bed where he threw her down and pinned her. He melded their lips together and grabbed Trinity's wrists just to pin them above her head.

"W-what are you doing?" she tried to say through his kisses.

"Something not so funny." he growled as he broke the kiss. He lifted himself up just enough to unbutton her white shirt. He pushed it aside and began to kiss her from her neck, down her torso, and stopped at her navel. She arched her back to meet him and gasped for air. He raked his fingers up her inner thighs making her whole body shake.

"Say my name." he growled.

"What?" she asked confused. He grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled making her lift her chin to expose her neck and moan.

"Say. My. Name." he growled again biting her neck.

"F-"

"Trinity!" Both of them shot up and looked at the door. A fist thundered against the other side and was matched by a stern voice.

"Trinity open the door!" Trinity lost her breath when she realized the angry voice was the voice of Professor Sinistra who was also the Head of the Ravenclaw house. She gasped and Fred arms grew weak. He was going to be dead if she found out he was here.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Why is the door locked? I demand you open it this instance!"

"Y-Yes Ma'am…" she said, jumping up. Fred grabbed her by the arms, still kneeling on the bed.

"Where do I hide?" he whispered.

"Under the bed. Don't worry." she whispered heatedly in his ear, stroking him one last time before she pulled her robe around herself. Fred quietly dropped to the floor and rolled underneath the bed. As soon as he was completely gone from view she opened the door. Sinistra looked just as frazzled as she did, her hair sticking up in different directions. Trinity smiled weakly.

"Did I do something?" she asked innocently. The professor looked down at her and brushed her hair back with her hand.

"It has come to my attention that your brother Donovan is missing from his bed. I was wondering if you of all people would know where he would have wandered off to at this hour?" Trinity raised an eyebrow at the Head of House and shrugged.

"I truly don't know. I do know that he has a friend in Hufflepuff." She lied and it was probably obvious but she wasn't going to give him up that easily. Sinistra nodded with a smile pulling at her lips.

"I see. Sorry to bother you. Sleep well." she said and turned away. Trinity closed the door and let out a sigh of relief. Fred poked his head out from under the bed.

"Is she gone?" Trinity nodded. He pulled himself out of the crawl space and dusted himself off. "What was that all about?"

"Apparently Donovan is off with his Slytherin boy." Trinity sighed. "He's not in his bed and someone told Sinistra. She was coming to see if I knew where he was."

"I see." Fred said, rubbing her arms that were crossed over her chest to cover up her chest. He bowed his head to kiss her forehead and hold her close to him. He breathed in the cashmere smell of her hair and lifted her face to his.

"This isn't going to happen is it?" he asked. Trinity shook her head at him with a scrunched nose. The expression on her face made him smile.

"Sinister killed the mood." she piped up. He let out a soft chuckle and touched his forehead to hers. "Are you mad?" Trinity asked.

"Mad? No. Frustrated? Very much so but I'll live. It just means that I have something to fantasize about." he teased. She blushed a deep red which made him laugh out loud. She pushed him back but he grabbed her arms and pulled her into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could. He hugged her back and brushed the hair out of her face when she released him.

"Stay and cuddle?" she asked but he shook his head.

"Not tonight dear. I don't want Sinister or your roommies to show up. Then we'd be in real trouble."

"I guess. Be careful okay?"

"Yes my dear." he said lovingly. When Fred saw the disappointed look on her face he kissed her. " I'll stay over tomorrow. Promise."

"You better. Now go, before Sinister comes back." she said pushing him towards the door. He kissed her hand before he reached the door.

"Goodnight love."

"Night." Trinity waived him away and he disappeared into the night. Trinity threw herself onto her bed and stared out the window at the moon again. She could still feel his fingers on her skin and the heat of his breath. She wished he could have stayed even if all they did was fall asleep. 'Oh well' she thought, 'another day.' As she rolled over and closed her eyes, she thought fondly of Fred but she had no idea how few days she had left with him.


	17. Chapter 16

The last Monday of April found Trinity and Donovan wandering the halls between classes. They jumped the moving staircases and slid down the banisters. They rearranged suits of armor and flipped photo frames causing havoc for the people inside. Whenever they caught a glimpse of the Inquisitorial Squad badges they would change their features or the colors on their robes. As they jumped over the edge of the stairs to dodge more of the squad Trinity heard someone jump behind her. She landed like a cat, crouched with one hand on the floor to brace herself, and took off down the hall. She was only a few steps behind Donovan who looked at her over his shoulder. They bolted around a corner and Donovan pulled her by the hand to be in step with him. With her silver pigtails bouncing with every bound Trinity was sure they were out of reach.

"Where do we go?" Donovan called.

"Lets find the boy-" Trinity fell forward as she got hit with a tripping jinx. "Shit…" was all she could mumble as she tried to roll and protect her limbs. Her wrist twisted the wrong way as she pushed herself up off the floor. Part of the squad was gaining on her now as she pulled her wand out of her robes. She released herself from the jinx and stood to face her attackers. Amongst the faces she saw Montague, Malfoy, and Donovan's boyfriend. She turned to her brother and pointed.

"Really? The enemy?" she said. Donovan's wide eyed look surprised her.

"I didn't know." he called. She waived him away.

"Just go."

"No way." he said, stepping up to her side with his wand grasped in his hand. When she looked at him, she was shaken to see that his eye color was shifting to a deep angry red. She smiled and raised her wand at the Slytherins.

"Stop! You have broken multiple Educational Decree's and need to be turned into the Headmistress." said Montague, his own wand raised.

" Make me snake!" Trinity hissed. Students standing in the corridor around them were whispering to each other and clutching their school things to their chests. Malfoy fired a body bind curse at her but she easily deflected it away. Donovan cast a shield charm around he and Trinity as she fired spells at the squad members. She cast a mirage spell on the shield charm that made it appear they were still casting spells. She and Donovan started to back away to the nearest hall.

"There they are!" called Antony.

"You have such a bad taste in men!" Trinity yelled at him.

"Later!" Donovan yelled back. He fired a jelly legs spell over his shoulder at the group just happy to hit someone considering they were running. A loud thud made him smile. They flew around a corner and found themselves back at the staircases. They high fived and split up, Donovan climbing a set of stairs upwards while Trinity jumped to the next landing below her. She hid just out of sight in the shadows and waited until she heard the group pass. She walked casually on down the hall ignoring the looks that some were giving to her. She was half tempted to cast the memory charm on all of them but decided against it. School was almost over and she would be free soon and well on her way to a career at St. Mungo's.

"Ms. Bastille." The male voice made Trinity stop dead in her tracks. Now she'd really done it, she would have detention for the rest of term for sure. But as she turned, she let out an exasperated sigh.

"Professor. Thank god it's you." She said turning to give Snape her full attention. As she faced him she could practically feel the distress pouring off of him. Something had happened recently that deeply bothered him. He didn't let it reach his face though.

"Trouble?" he raised an eyebrow at her. She giggled and scratched her head innocently.

" You could say that. Let's just say that the Inquisitorial Squad members aren't my biggest fans. In fact I just dueled a bunch of them up there." she said pointing to the roof. Snape followed her point and nodded.

"I see. That sounds deserving of a detention." he said, his brows furrowing. Trinity gulped.

"Probably." she said quietly looking at the ground.

"But luckly for you, I don't fancy Umbridge or her ways." Trinity looked at him and found Snape was smiling. "Walk with me." Trinity looked around for any squad members before falling into step next to the Potions master. She wasn't sure if he had enough power to protect her if they caught up to them. Snape was still smiling and that in itself should have unnerved her but with all their extra study sessions she was accustomed to seeing a smile from him every now and again.

"So have you heard from St. Mungo's?" he asked, looking at her from the corner of his eye.

" I sent in my resume and references. I'm just waiting on a letter back saying whether or not they are going to give me an interview or an intership. I'll take whatever on the job experience I can get since I'm just starting."

"What about your work in the hospital wing?" he asked.

"I'm glad to get my feet wet but I don't think that compares to the type of things I'll be exposed to at St. Mungo's. There will be spell backfires, splicing, and magical creature attacks. Just a lot of stuff you don't get exposed to here…that often…" Snape looked at her and she smiled nervously. He knew that she was somewhat of a trouble maker and he turned a blind eye to it. Still, when he got word of some of the things she had done it made him cringe. He rolled his eyes and continued on acting as if he hadn't heard what she said.

"I'm sure you'll get an interview. With your grades and class load they would be stupid not to hire you."

"Agreed." Trinity smiled. As they reached another set of staircases they parted ways. Snape had much to attend to in the Dungeons and Trinity didn't want to be near any large groups of Slytherins if she could avoid it. She waived him away and continued through the halls. Peeves was busy torturing a group of first years with water balloons and she stopped to debate whether or not to help them. She had endured the same in her first year. Spare them the experience? Nah. Trinity walked past and fired a water balloon back at Peeves.

Suddenly a dampness hit her that made it uncomfortable to breath easy. It was accompanied by a strange smell that made her wrinkle her nose. It was oddly familiar to her and yet she couldn't quite place from where. Trinity was so focused on trying to remember that she was blind to the fact that people were growing more and more scarce and the whole energy of the place.

"This is going to bother me all day….Fred?" the red headed twin was running towards her at full speed. When his eyes met hers they gained a fear that she didn't understand. He grabbed her hand and yanked her back down the hall so hard that it actually hurt her shoulder. She ran to keep up with him and something told her not to look back.

"Fred…what's going on?" she demanded as they shoved through masses of students. He answered her with only silence and that was what frightened her. Not the increase of the stench, or the moisture, or the heat. They turned a corner and disappeared into what appeared to be a solid piece of wall. Next thing she knew she was standing a few floors in what appeared to be a mostly empty piece of hall. She turned to Fred and he smiled before exploding into wisps of smoke. She squeaked in surprise and looked around desperately.

"Fred?" suddenly she heard his heated voice coming from around a corner. Peeves bounced past her looking especially mischievous as he disappeared to where an apparent commotion was taking place. She crept around the corner and was surprised to see the twins yelling at Umbridge. 'Are they stupid?' she thought. 'So close to being done and they want to commit social suicide now!' She walked through the crowd trying to hear what was being said. She stopped behind Hermione and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"What's going on?"

" Something about brooms and Quidditch."

"Accio brooms!" a loud crash made everyone turn. Students started to scatter as spells got fired here and there.

"Fred!" Trinity pushed past the students who were standing closest to the front and looked around frantically for him. She spotted some squad members staring her down and approaching her a few feet away and she felt her heart drop. 'Not now' she thought.

"Incarcerous" Umbridge shrieked. She grabbed for her wand but not fast enough.

"Protego!" Fred bellowed. Trinity gasped as he grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him.

"What's going on?!" she shrieked, her adrenaline pumping. Fred smoothed her hair down and held her face in his hands.

"Shhhh, calm down babe." he said softly. He rubbed her arms and leaned down to see eye-to-eye with her. "I need to tell you something, okay?" Trinity nodded. "George and I are leaving."

"What!?"

"We're going to start things in Diagon Alley. We can't be under Toad's control anymore or we're going to kill her. And we can't leave you alone in this world."

"But what about me? You are leaving me alone!"

"You need to stay here and finish school so you can follow in your mother's footsteps. I won't stand in the way of your potential."

"But…"

"Don't worry," Fred said kissing her forehead. "I will be waiting for you as soon as you graduate from this prison. I promise."

"You better," Trinity sniffled. "If you aren't here, I will hunt you down and you will suffer my wrath boy. I promise." she almost growled, grabbing the front of his robes. It made him smile and he coaxed her hand off of his robes. All of a sudden his broom was beside them, the chain that attached it to the wall still hanging off of the handle. He pulled her close and squeezed her hard.

"I love you." he murmured, brushing the hair from her face that was blown by a spell that whizzed past them. He wiped a tear from her face and mounted his broom. As he kicked off she grabbed his shirt again and pulled his face to hers. Time seemed to stop as she pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. His breathing grew labored as she held him in the moment but she only lingered long enough to bite his lip and make it swell. His eyes were glazed over as he looked at her.

"I love you jerk. Now go before she catches you." Trinity said looking at the squad members and Umbridge. He kicked off again and took off with George who waived at Trinity. She waived back but she did not smile.

She was in for a load of grief from the Toad since she talked to Fred before he left. 'She's going to assume I knew about this. But I didn't. Why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he tell me!' She wanted to scream it, scream at him but that would be pointless. When was she going to see him again? What were they going to do? They had talked about opening up a joke shop after the year was done but now everything was ruined. How could they just leave her here? Donovan came up to Trinity, who was still looking out the window that the twins flew out of, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Trinity?" his voice was soft. She turned into his arms and began to weep into his chest. He wrapped his arms around his sister and held her close, resting his chin on her head. Donovan tried to soothe her by running her back and humming.

"Why did they leave? Things were going to great and now…now they're gone. Why did they leave me here all alone?" Trinity sobbed. Donovan sighed.

"Don't worry sis, this isn't the end. We'll see them again. They left to start their lives, not to end things. We only have two more months to go before we're free. Just hang on for two more months and everything will be different. Okay?"

"But how different? What if things are never the same?" Donovan shrugged.

"That is something we will deal with when the time comes." Donovan said and took her to the common room to calm herself. She sat looking out the window for most of the night, just watching the moon slowly cross the sky. She didn't know how to feel about the day's events but she something deep down felt wrong. It was dark and forboding and it made her sick. It filled her with fear and she wished more than ever that she could be with Fred. She prayed that he would be safe until she could watch his back again.

She pulled out her enchanted parchment even though she wasn't sure Fred had his. She scrawled a short note before heading to bed and leaving the parchment on the top of her trunk.

_Be safe my love _

**Yay, part one is over! Part two of DTD will be in a separate fan fiction since I'm afraid that if there are too many chapters in the fan fiction people won't read it. Let me know if you think it's a good idea and what you think of the end of part one. Thanks!~**


	18. Chapter 17 (Part 2)

It was a balmy August morning that found Harry, Ron, and Hermione walking the streets of Diagon Alley. Teens bustled back and forth past them with their parents trying to wedge their way into one of the many busy shops to get their supplies for school. It was a newer shop that caught the trio's eyes. It was colorful and literally bursting with people flying through it's doors. Harry smiled as they approached Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The twins had obviously spent the money he gave them well. They squeezed through the door past a group of giggling girls and were amazed by the inside of the shop.

"Trinity?" a tall woman who was showing a group of girls how to properly hold Pygmy Puffs turned to the group and exposed a bright smile. She released her armful of pink and purple puffs to the girls who surrounded her and ran towards the trio. She threw her arms around the three of them before holding them at arms length to look them over.

"How are you three? Gosh I haven't seen you all summer." she said so happy to see all of them. Ron seemed to roll his eyes at her.

"Well if you and Fred hadn't disappeared all summer."

"Whatever you git. You're just mad that she get's all the freebies and gets to see all the new things before you do." Fred said coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist. Trinity turned to her favorite red haired twin and kissed his cheek.

"Where have you been all summer?" Harry asked. Trinity blushed slightly and looked at Fred.

"Well you see we've spent a lot of the summer working on new items for the shop. The Pygmy Puffs are Trinity's babies so she get's to take care of them and make sure she gives students all the information they need to know about them." At the look on Ron's face Fred felt the need to continue. "But I believe what Ron is wanting me to say is that Trinity and I got our own place. We are no longer located at the Burrow." Fred said leaning down to kiss Trinity's temple.

"We as in I moved out too." George chimed in, appearing as if from nowhere.

"Well you seem to be doing very well for yourselves. I mean there are so many customers in here. You're obviously not starving and that dress is gorgeous." Hermione said fingering the material of the outfit that Trinity was wearing.

She was dressed in a curve hugging dress that was hung around her neck in a halter style. It plunged almost risqué deep in the front but covered enough skin to be presentable. The color was a deep sapphire that would have made anyone from Ravenclaw proud. She did a small curtsy for Hermione to show her the way the fabric flowed almost angelically off of her hips.

"I'm glad you like it. It is Fred's idea of an official uniform for the job. In all reality they just didn't want to see me parading around in a dragon skin pant suit." she teased. "I like this better though. What have you guys been up to this summer?" she asked. All of their eyes seemed to take on a darkened light as they remembered the funeral they had for Sirius. There had been no body to lay to rest but it had affected she and Harry the most. She had tried to help him cope with the death but he had been resistant to her attempts so she had backed off.

"Getting ready for the next semester of class." Harry said.

"Ah yes, you young bloods. Going to keep up our legacy right?" George asked, staring at the trio. Harry and Ron nodded while Hermione merely shook her head.

"Did you hear the rumors about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? I heard it was going to be Snape." Trinity said. The trio looked at her and Harry shook his head.

"No it's supposed to be Slughorn."

"Oh okay. Thank goodness for you guys. I wonder what kind of teacher he is going to be." Trinity said. She thought that Snape would have been an interesting DADA teacher with all of his Death Eater knowledge.

"He's…interesting." Harry said.

"I'm sure I'll hear much more about it as the year goes by. But don't let us keep you from the shop. Have a look around! I think the twins have some things to show Harry but I'd love to show you around Hermy." she said linking her arms with Hermione. She grabbed Ron as he tried to follow the others even though he fought her. "Come on little brother, I'll show you some secret stuff too."

"Thank you. Be safe and have a goodnight." Trinity called as she closed and locked the door behind the last customer's of the evening. Through the windows she could see the last of the day's shopper's making their way out of Diagon Alley, arms full to the brim of purchases. Trinity sighed and mock wiped her forehead as she caught a shock of ginger hair out of the corner of her eye.

"Finally empty?" George asked totaling the receipts and pulling the money out of the cash drawer to eventually count.

"Yup. Do you want me to start taking inventory?" Trinity asked, waiving her wand at the windows so that the security measures went into place. George shook his head in reply.

"No worries 'lil sis, I got it. Just start clean up."

"Or we could not, say we did, and go get some chow." Fred spoke appearing from the back room. Trinity crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend. He crossed the space between them in a few strides and scooped her up into his arms. He spun around a few times before placing her softly back on the floor. Trinity was still play-glaring at him and he gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

"Was that supposed to convince me?"

"Yeah. Did it work?"

"No." Trinity chuckled and booped Fred's nose before turning away from him to enchant the broom to sweep up. She went through and tidied up the shelves while making notes of what really needed to be stocked.

"Please!" Trinity heard Fred whine from across the store.

"No."

"But I'm hungry!"

"Then help George take inventory and then we can go eat!" she said, her voice hardening just enough for him to know that she was serious. She laughed mentally as she heard the other twin stomp over to his brother, snatch his clipboard, and disappear into the aisles and shelves. When a crash reached Trinity's she couldn't help but laugh again.

"I'm not cleaning that up sir. Just another thing to keep you from your target." The silence was broken by Fred's loud exclamations about how she was being unfair.

"Finally done!" Fred said happily. He and George had finally restocking the shelves, very happy that they could leave for the day. "Now we can go and eat!"

"I wouldn't count on it." George snorted.

"What?" Fred pouted. He moved around George to peer into the office and couldn't help but smile. Trinity had fallen asleep in the office chair with her legs over the armrest.

"Let's go home and I'll make something for us." George smiled, handing Fred his coat after strapping on his own. Fred lifted Trinity, who didn't stir at all, out of the chair and carried her to the fireplace. George went through first and rather than follow him, Fred appareated them to the house. He didn't want to risk Trinity's sleepy state affecting where she ended up.

As he tucked her into their bed, Trinity smiled in her sleep and tried to cuddle with his hand. Fred smiled and stroked her hair. It was cute occurrences like this that caused Fred to assure himself that he wanted her to be his wife.


	19. Chapter 18 Part 1

September first.

Fred's eyes opened to his still dark bedroom. He snuggled deeper into his pillow but he shot up again as he felt the bed beside him was empty. It wasn't like Trinity to be up before him. Something had to be up. Fred pushed himself away from his comfortable spot and padded across their bedroom to the hall.  
>George's bedroom was closed but the shower could be heard running in the bathroom. Fred followed the scent of vanilla through the empty living room and kitchen to the dining room where he found Trinity clutching her mug and staring out the window. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, nuzzling his head against hers.<p>

"Come back to bed." Fred said with his scratchy morning voice.

"Can't." Trinity murmured back.

"Why?" Fred whined. Trinity raised her right hand to stroke Fred's hair gently.

"Because we have to go see the kids off at the train station today."

"Well you know…" Fred said, grabbing Trinity's mug and setting it on the table,

"We don't have to see them off at the station. We could always just send them a letter and a bribe." Fred backed Trinity up against the window and kissed her intimately. She tried to pull away but he grabbed her face and kissed her deeper.

"Fred Weasley. I know you are not trying to seduce me to get out of leaving the house today." Trinity teased breathily. Fred nibbled on her earlobe.

"I would never-"

"-because we are supposed to be at the shop already to catch all the last minute shoppers."

"I posted the shop would be closed until 11:30." Fred growled and pinned Trinity's wrists to the glass. Trinity kissed him back but refused to indulge him until he would meet her gaze.

"We need to go see them off at the station. With Voldemort being back we need to take every opportunity we have." Trinity said matter-of-factly. Fred released her wrists but kept his hands on the glass on either side of her. He touched his forehead to Trinity's and let his eyes fall closed.

"I love you." he said, his voice still gravely from not being fully awake.

"I love you too." Trinity replied. She wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in the scent that lingered on his bare skin.

Though they knew that Voldemort was back thanks to the order, the fact that the Ministry was refusing to report on it had them all on edge. Hiding his return to try and keep people from panicking was going to cause more harm in the long run than good. The Order was trying to place agents inside the Daily Prophet so they could get the news out but so far had had no luck. While they seemed relaxed on the outside, many of them were trying to live as if the Dark Lord would take control again tomorrow.

"Now come on. We need to jump in the shower." Trinity spoke kissing Fred on the forehead.

"What took you lot so long?" Molly inquired as the twins and Trinity reached the farewell group on the platform in a rush. Both of the twins were suffering horrendous cases of bed head and Trinity had buttoned her coat incorrectly.

"Ask those two." Trinity huffed as she hugged Molly briefly before moving on to the students. Molly instantly turned her "mom glare" on the twins who swallowed hard.

"Have a good year, Gin. I'll see you on holiday. Here's some extra things for your pygmy puffs and don't go snogging too many boys." Trinity said before squeezing Ginny who blushed at her remark. The ginger haired girl moved past her to hug her older brothers and say one last farewell to her mother before pulling her bag onto the already crowded train.

Trinity hugged Ron next who, by the look on his face, had overheard her joke to Ginny.

"Oh lighten up little brother."

"There will be no snogging where Ginny is concerned." Ron said quietly. Trinity swatted his shoulder playfully.

"You have bigger things to focus on this year, like Quidditch and being a Prefect. Just try to have fun!" Ron still seemed bothered as Trinity mussed his hair. He glared and tried to tame the unruly mess as Trinity held out a rich purple cloth bag with the golden WWW logo.

"What's that?"

"It's an apology for stealing your brothers away this summer. I know you're used to having them around the house during the summer and, when we weren't at the shop, we were settling into our own place. Now you guys are leaving for school and it seems like we didn't see you at all this summer." Trinity grabbed Ron's hands and wrapped them around the bag as he continued to stare at her quietly, his eyes shifting between her face and the velvet bag in his grip. "It's just some freebies…nothing too fancy."

"Thank you." Ron stammered as she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. She would miss her "little brother". It was weird not getting on the train with them this year. She would miss the long ride in a compartment with the twins cracking jokes and Donovan coming and going to hide from his crazy, female, fan club. It was amazing how fast 7 years went by.

"Don't worry about it. Just have a good year and we'll see you at Christmas." Trinity murmured as she released Ron and nudged him in the direction of his parents. He sent her a small smile over his shoulder and stashed the bag away in his coat so neither of his older brothers could take it from him.

"I wouldn't worry about him too much. We all know that you are going to be a permanent part of this family at some point or another." Hermione said coming to stand beside Trinity with a half grin on her face. Trinity instantly cracked a smile of her own and threw her arms around Hermione. She plucked at the girls Prefect badge playfully before spotting the boy who lived standing a few steps behind her. His attention was fixed to the Malfoy family that was standing around talking farther down the platform.

"Come on Harry. Come and say your goodbyes." Trinity said throwing her arm around Harry's shoulders and pulling him closer to Hermione and the group. She ruffled his hair and he batted her hand away.

"You'll have all year to speculate about the Malfoy's and what they might be up to. Come on, Potter." Harry rolled his eyes at her and walked past Trinity to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and the twins. Trinity sighed and Hermione nudged her.

"Sirius' death has been hard on him this summer. He hasn't really been himself at all." Hermione sighed crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't blame him. He's not the only one having a difficult time coping. I just wish he would talk to me. I knew Sirius really well too." Trinity said in a voice only loud enough for Hermione hear.

"I've been trying to get him talk all summer so I wouldn't take it too personally. How is the shop going?" Hermione asked changing the subject smoothly.

"Really well actually." Trinity said pulling her coat tighter around herself and pulling her cuffs down. " Business has been booming especially with the beginning of term coming. I think Skiving Snackboxes have been our highest selling product thus far."

"I shouldn't be this surprised." Hermione sniped and rolled her eyes.

"You really shouldn't." Trinity giggled.

"Do you think business will suffer now that everyone is going back to school?" Hermione asked pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and glancing at Harry over her shoulder.

"I think we'll manage. What's the worst that could happen? We have to get day jobs?" They all turned as the Hogwarts Express let out a loud whistle and steam began to billow out of the engine.

"It's time to go." Trinity smiled and hugged Hermione again as they rejoined their little group. Everyone hugged everyone before turning to go and find a compartment. Fred snaked his arm around Trinity's shoulders as the train began to pull out of the station. He kissed her temple and turned them around to head back out of the station.

"Sad that you aren't on that train?" He asked.

"You have no idea."


	20. Chapter 18 Part 2

The burrow stood mostly quiet as the sun set on September first. Molly and Trinity moved about the kitchen making small talk as they made dinner. As Trinity watched the older woman move about she couldn't believe how quiet the house was with everyone away. She'd only ever witnessed the house when it was buzzing with life. For three years now this woman had been living with a silent house while her kids were away having lives of their own or at school. How incredibly lonely she must feel sometimes.

"Don't pity me too much." Molly sighed as she put a pot of water on for tea. Trinity shook her head but was silenced by Molly's upheld hand as she carried a tea service over to the table for them.

"The quiet is unnerving to me too. I've been doing this for four years now it still amazes me how quiet it is here. I will say it's nice of you to come and keep me company tonight." Molly smiled at her and took a seat across from Trinity at the dinner table.

"It's nice to be here. Even though we live together there are days where I find myself alone at the apartment and it's quiet like this. I've constantly been around people so this is different. Honestly, knowing he who must not be named is back makes my quiet apartment even more uninviting." Trinity said shaking her head. She deposited the veggies she had been cutting up into a big pot and put it on the heat with some seasonings and garlic. When she looked back at Molly she was watching the enchanted family clock. Trinity followed her gaze and bit her lip. While Ron and Ginny's spoon were pointed to "School" everyone else's spoons were pointed to "Mortal Peril".

"Why does it do that?" Trinity asked.

"It's been like that ever since he came back. It will probably stay like that until he is gone for good."

"Oh…" Trinity said quietly.

"We can only hope. I don't fancy seeing my family in mortal peril." Molly said and made to get up from the bench to check something.

"I've got it." Trinity said gesturing for her to stay seated. She added the rest of her ingredients to the pot on the stove before moving to grab the boiling kettle off the heat. She poured a steaming cup for each of them before retaking her seat.

"Dinner should be done soon. Who all are we feeding tonight?" Trinity asked as she prepared her tea. Molly took a long drink before answering.

"I believe Tonks and Remus will be joining us tonight. What time are the boys closing up shop?"  
>Trinity checked the time on her watch and looked towards the back door.<p>

"They should be here any time now." she said as she went to sip her tea. A flash of green light from the living room made both women tense. They reached for their wands as voices could be heard in the other room. Trinity stood with her wand raised to meet the owners of the heated voices as Tonks strode into the kitchen, pulling her traveling off cloak off of her shoulders.

"Bloody hell." she squeaked as she dropped the garment.

"What is it?" Lupin asked, his scarred face appearing over her shoulder. Trinity tucked her wand away and retrieved Tonks' coat from the floor.

"I'm so sorry. I just…"

"It's okay." Lupin squeezed Trinity's shoulder. "We've all been on edge since Voldemort's return. No one was hurt and that's all that matters."

"Well now you're here and you can take a load off." Molly smiled as she hugged both of their guests. Tonks chose to stay on her feet, moving away from the table with Molly, while Remus dropped down into the chair nearest Trinity. He let out an exhausted sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tightly. Trinity watched her former teacher fail at relaxing and gave him a half smile when he finally opened his eyes again.

"I must look dreadful." He murmured as he rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his sandy hair.

"No." Trinity started but the glare he sent her way made her giggle. "I don't think you look dreadful. Everyone has been different since he returned. You just look…it's different knowing you outside of Hogwarts." Lupin returned her smile as he thought back to his year of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. That year had been so crazy with trying to balance his lycanthropy and calm his nerves about Siruis' escape from Azkaban. Everything had worked out in the end but he wished that he could have kept his teaching job. It was stable, paid well, and he had never had to worry about not returning back to the people that cared. Now that he was with someone he really cared about he wished they both could have a job away from death's grasp.

"It's not like we were strangers when I was your teacher." Lupin yawned. Tonks appeared beside him and handed him a hot cup of tea. As she ruffled his hair he turned to place a gentle kiss into her palm. The woman smiled but couldn't hide the blush that rose to her cheeks. Trinity averted her eyes from their moment by taking a long draw from her cup. It would have been a longer drink had the twins not appeared beside her with a loud pop.

"Sorry we're late." George announced, pulling off his coat.

"Nevermind that. Come and give your mother a hug."Molly held her arms out for the twins to come and embrace her. Both boys honored her request, hugging Tonks after, and shaking hands with their former teacher.

"Getting sick?" Fred asked as he took the seat next to Trinity.

"No. You made tea come out of my nose." She whined and continued to blow her nose.

"Sorry babe." Fred said warmly as he grabbed one of her hands and kissed the back of it. She returned his gesture with a warm smile and let him pull her into quick hug. "I missed you today."

"I missed you too. Now go help your mother." Trinity batted him away.  
>Fred reluctantly got up from the table but made sure to kiss the side of Trinity's head before he left. Tonks went around the table laying out silverware and napkins as Molly handed George a stack of bowls to start filling with stew. Fred pulled two fresh loaves of bread from the oven and laid them out on a cutting board to be deposited on the table with a butter dish. Molly brought bowls to the table as Arthur stumbled through the back door. Everyone's gaze bolted to the man but he waived their attentions away as he pulled off his coat and kicked his boots off under the coat rack.<p>

"Just a long day at work, dear. I promise." Trinity heard him murmur as he kissed her and headed towards the table. He squeezed Lupin's shoulder as he headed towards the head of the table. Fred set a dark, glass bottle down in front of his dad, giving his elder an understanding look.

"Would you like a glass Remus?" Arthur asked pouring the amber liquid into a short glass.

"Please." Arthur smiled and poured a second glass. It slid across the surface of the table smoothly and landed before Remus without spilling a single drop.

"Me too. I had a hell of a day." Tonks plopped down in the seat beside Lupin. Remus chuckled as Arthur summoned another glass and sent it her way. Tonks took a long drink that was followed by a cough. "Bloody hell Arthur! How long have you had that?"

"I save the strong stuff for especially hard days." Arthur growled, finishing his glass and pouring another.

"What happened today?" Trinity asked. Fred took a seat beside her, setting the bread and butter in the center of the table, and placing a bowl in front of both of them. George sat next to Fred and Molly took a seat across the table from them next to Tonks.

"Just an altercation on the train when it got to Hogsmeade. Apparently Harry, in his usual fashion, decided to get himself into some trouble. It was an easy fix." Tonks said, jumping a little when everyone's eyes grew wide.

"What kind of trouble?" Molly asked, always the concerned parent.

"He was trying to eavesdrop on the Malfoy boy on the train."

"Git." Fred growled.

"Well Malfoy knew he was there and cast a body binding spell on Harry. He meant to send him back to King Crossing under his cloak and no one would ever know where he was. No worries though. I found and fixed him right up." Tonks smiled but her hair turned a darker shade of brunette until it was almost black.

"They need to start giving him more credit." Trinity sighed. She nearly dropped her spoon when she saw the look the twins were giving her.

"What?"

"You think Malfoy is smart?" George asked. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"I'm not saying he's the new Hermione. I'm saying if they were smart they would start giving him the benefit of the doubt." Trinity sighed.

"That's actually excellent advice. Knowing Lucius, he will have prepared Draco for just about anything at this point." Lupin pointed out. They all nodded reluctantly knowing that what he said was true. Lucius Malfoy was a snake in every sense of the word.

"Well at least everyone is here and doing well tonight. How's the shop going?" Tonks asked.

"We're doing well." Fred replied.

"Sales are way up due to the beginning of term and we're working on some new products." George finished.

"Well make sure you have your sensible girlfriend with you incase anything goes wrong."Tonks teased. Trinity smiled and shook her head, thinking back to what happened the year before when the boys started testing the Skiving Snackboxes without her there. Trinity met Arthur's gaze as she reminisced and saw he was smiling at her.

"We're very glad you're here, dear." Arthur spoke softly, raising his glass to her. Trinity couldn't remember ever seeing him so stressed out before. Everyone had changed in the past few months with the Dark Lord's return. Fred squeezed her thigh under the table and she met his amber gaze. They smiled at each other but quickly looked away.

"How are you doing?" Molly asked looking between Tonks and Lupin. The two adults exchanged a glance but Lupin looked away first, giving his bowl a pained expression. Tonks looked hurt as she shrugged and pushed her stew around with her spoon.

"We're okay."

"Yeah you look like you're in a great place." Fred chimed before Molly and Trinity both stomped on his feet under the table. He yelped and tried to rub his abused foot.

"What is wrong with you?" Trinity whispered and turned back to her friends.

"Me?" Fred asked but Trinity had already diverted her attention back to the other conversation.

"We're doing the best we can with the circumstances. Work keeps us busy most of the time. It's rare we actually get to have dinner together anymore, but…" Tonks sighed, a pained smile on her face as she reached out and covered Lupin's clenched fist with her own hand. "We make it work."

Lupin let out a pained sigh and readjusted his hand so he could squeeze hers reassuringly. It was common knowledge to the people at the table that their relationship had been rocky from the beginning. Sirius' death had been hard on both of them and, ever since Voldemort had returned, Lupin had been trying to convince Tonks to leave him. He wanted her to seek out a safer mate, one who wouldn't threaten her life once a month, but Tonks refused. She loved him, lycanthropy or not.

"That's what relationships are about: making things work." Molly said as she grabbed Arthur's hand. Fred grabbed Trinity's hand and kissed her knuckles gently.

"I'm suddenly reminded how very single I am." George commented as he took a drink from a glass of whatever Arthur and Lupin were drinking. The room filled with lighthearted laughter as Molly and Fred fussed over George who seemed to be pouting.

The evening ended on a high note with the group making plans to try to have dinner together once a week. Molly gave them tight hugs as they headed out to the backyard to apparate to their apartment. Arthur drank way too much at dinner and was already passed out in bed as Molly walked them all to the door. Tonks and Lupin waived as they disappeared with a loud pop.

"Be safe." Molly whispered as she gave Trinity one last hug and they disappeared with a pop. They appeared in their quaint, little apartment to find it exactly as they had left it. George bid them goodnight and disappeared into his bedroom. Trinity closed their bedroom door and kicked off her shoes. Fred tangled his fingers in her hair and trapped her against the door. He held her in a heated kiss before pressing his forehead against hers.

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
